A Surprisingly Strong August for the Manhattan Real Estate Market

August turned out to be a surprisingly strong month for Manhattan real estate, with 831 contracts signed. That's higher than previous two years. It's especially impressive since inventory is low. Only 713 new listings came on during the same period, so more listings are actually going off the market than coming on.

Overall, we're seeing that most sellers have gotten the message that this is a market for pricing realistically, not aspirationally. Last month, the median discount from the asking price was just 4.9%, so the numbers back us up.

As for September, it's traditionally the month when the fewest number of contracts are signed (another surprising fact). It's also when we see a marked increase in new listings. Yesterday alone, 168 new listings came on the market. That, combined with lower interest rates, could make this a busier September than we've had in a while.