More than one in five New York City homes sold above their asking price in August, even as mortgage rates hovered near 6.7%, according to a new StreetEasy market report. The figure, 21.8%, follows an even hotter July, when a quarter of all city sales closed above ask — the highest share since 2022.
The driving force is scarcity. Citywide inventory has fallen 5% year-over-year, and Manhattan alone has seen listings drop 11.2%. A recent draft estimate from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development found New York would need 700,000 new housing units over the next decade just to keep pace with demand.
Brooklyn is the epicenter of the frenzy. Nearly a third of homes in the borough sold above ask, and in Park Slope that figure jumped to three in five sales. Greenwich Village saw an even sharper spike, with 40% of homes selling above their listed price. Brooklyn properties are also moving fastest citywide, spending a median of just 69 days on market in August, six days faster than a year ago, compared to a citywide median of 77 days to contract.
Frances Katzen, a broker at Douglas Elliman, says the numbers reflect what she’s already seeing with clients. Higher rates, she argues, have not translated into a weaker market.
“The biggest thing I’m telling sellers right now is, don’t confuse higher interest rates with a weak market. They’re not the same thing.”
“I would much rather launch into a market where inventory is constrained, even with higher mortgage rates, than wait for rates to come down and suddenly find myself competing against five other sellers who had exactly the same idea.”
Sellers appear to be gaming the imbalance rather than resisting it. Many are pricing listings slightly below market value to draw multiple offers and let competition push the final price higher. The strategy shows up in the citywide numbers: the median asking price actually slipped 2% to $980,000 even as final sale prices climbed past that figure.
The upshot for buyers is a market where higher borrowing costs offer no real relief. With supply this tight, especially in sought-after Brooklyn and Manhattan neighborhoods, competition for available homes is intensifying rather than easing.
