NYC housing prices fall at a pace unseen since the financial crisis

Sunset Park,
Brooklyn.
Sarah Jacobs/Business
Insider

• The number of New York City home sellers who cut their asking
  prices spiked to the highest level since 2009 during the week
  after Labor Day, according to StreetEasy. 
• The real-estate website also saw its biggest wave of new
  listings around the same period, as sellers tried to attract New
  Yorkers who were returning from their summer vacations. 
• Unlike 2009, the housing market is in much better
  shape. 

In one way, it’s 2009 all over again in New York City’s housing
market. 

The number of home sellers who cut their asking prices reached
the highest level since 2009 during the week after Labor Day,
according to StreetEasy.

Sellers needed to be more aggressive with pricing because buyers
had many more choices. Grant Long, a senior economist at
StreetEasy, said the listings website saw its biggest two weeks
for new listings at the same time, as sellers moved to
entice New Yorkers who were returning from their summer
vacations. This only worsened an existing glut of for-sale
inventory on the market. 

Homeowners cut prices on 774 properties, more than the previous
record of 713 set in March 2009, StreetEasy said. That
represented nearly 5% of all homes, which was the highest since
February 2009. 

That year was when StreetEasy started tracking the data, amid an

economic recession that was blamed largely on the housing
market’s crash. Even though the year brings back painful memories
for many homeowners, the market is a lot healthier now.

If there’s any talk of
a new housing crisis, it’s the shortage of relatively
affordable inventory for the droves of buyers. And there will be
many more buyers to come, as millennials mature and work to
achieve the life goal that is homeownership. 

“In this climate, with high inventory and price
cuts, the
tips for buyers we offered over the summer
remain as relevant as ever: Be picky, be patient, and be prepared
to negotiate,” Long wrote.

StreetEasy

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