Oct. 12, 2023 By Ethan Marshall
According to Douglas Elliman’s report on the Queens rental market for the third quarter of 2023, the listing inventory and sales continued to trend down. This marked the third consecutive quarter in which the listing inventory went down year-over-year, with each falling well below the levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The median sales price in Queens fell 0.4% year-over-year to $692,410. Despite the fall, this was still 15.4% higher than the levels seen before the pandemic. The average sales price also experienced a year-over-year decline, decreasing 1.3% to $738,217. This is 13.4% more than where it was at before the pandemic.
Douglas Elliman pointed out in their report that a sharp rise in mortgage rates has led to a drag on sales levels. Additionally, a limited inventory of listings has caused price trends to stay firm.
During this quarter, the listing inventory went down 11.2% year-over-year, to 4,933. This is 18.2% less than the levels prior to the pandemic. There were also 3,087 sales made in this quarter. This amount of sales was 24.2% less than the third quarter of 2022. It was also 9.6% behind pre-pandemic levels.
The median sales prices of condos, co-ops and family properties with up to three bedrooms were also examined in this report. Condos were the only property type to experience growth, with its median sales price increasing year-over-year by 11.2% to $685,000. Co-ops in Queens declined in median sales price by 3.6% to $318,000, while family properties of between one and three bedrooms experienced a median sales price decrease of 4.1% to $844,000.
The annual median sales price of new development condos rose 10.9% to $779,777, but the average sales size shrunk by 6.8% to 701 square feet. Despite the size shrinking, it is still 20.3% larger than the levels before the pandemic.
Douglas Elliman also measured the trends for Queens’ luxury market, which accounts for the top 10% of all sales. The median sales price remained stable at $1,500,000. The average sales price increased year-over-year to $1,630,417. Inventory for luxury listings fell 7.3% to 832. This amount of listings is 38.9% less than the levels seen before the pandemic.