The Manhattan and Brooklyn real estate markets start strong in 2025 as activity rebounds from the holiday slowdown. Manhattan saw an increase in new listings and buyer engagement, with supply rising and more contracts signed than the previous week. Brooklyn mirrored this trend, with a boost in new listings and steady growth in contract activity.

The Elegran | Forbes Global Properties Consumer Sentiment Index reflects this positive momentum, climbing from -31 to -5 over the past week. While sentiment remains below the benchmark, the steady improvement highlights buyers and sellers re-entering the market after the holidays.

While NYC can be less interest rate sensitive than other markets, interest rates still influence buyer behavior. Optimism about potential rate cuts has waned as strong economic data and inflation concerns shift expectations toward stable or rising rates. Consumers facing this new reality could be motivated to act sooner out of fear of even higher rates in the future. Whether this urgency will create more early-year momentum or if affordability challenges will temper buyer activity in the coming months remains to be seen.

Manhattan Supply

After the typical holiday slowdown, Manhattan’s real estate market saw a wave of new listings. Over the past week, 304 new properties were listed, pushing the total supply up by 3% to 5,269 units. This influx of new inventory is 9% higher than the same week the previous year, but it remains 7% below the levels seen in 2019.

Brooklyn Supply

Brooklyn’s real estate market is rebounding from the holiday slowdown, with 163 new listings hitting the market this week. This increase has boosted overall supply by 3.6% to 2,756 units. New listings this week are 12% above the same period last year and 18% higher than in 2019.

Manhattan Pending Sales: Pending sales decreased by 1.6% to 2,896.

Brooklyn Pending Sales: Pending sales decreased by  2.5% to 1,860.

Manhattan Consumer Sentiment

As the holiday season fades, contract activity in Manhattan has picked up, with 160 contracts signed this week—a 51% increase from the previous week. This week’s activity is 4% higher than the same period last year but remains 23% below 2019 levels. Though still below the average benchmark, the Elegran | Forbes Global Properties Manhattan Consumer Sentiment Index showed improvement, climbing from -47 last week to -21 this week.

Brooklyn Consumer Sentiment

Brooklyn’s residential market saw a 6% week-over-week uptick in signed contracts during the first full week of 2025, reaching 92. This activity boosted the Elegran | Forbes Global Properties Brooklyn Consumer Sentiment Index from +19 to +26. While contract signings are 13% lower than in the same period last year, they remain 15% higher than in 2019, signaling resilience in the market.

New Development Insights 

Marketproof reported that 37 new development contracts were signed in 31 buildings this week. The following buildings were the top-selling new developments of the week:

- Mason LIC (Long Island City) signed 4 contracts

- 77 Greenwich (Financial District), Sutton Tower (Sutton Place), and Williamsburg Wharf (Williamsburg) each signed 2 contracts.