Real Estate
New York’s Luxury Real Estate Slump Could Stretch Into Fall
Sellers are holding back, and buyers are demanding discounts.
The living room of a $15 million Chelsea townhouse in Manhattan.
Photographer: Travis Mark for Sotheby’s International Realty
After New York officially shut down during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of luxury residential real estate listings in the city plummeted. No one could visit a house, most brokers reasoned. What was the point of letting an apartment go stale?
“I did take several listings off the market, and I postponed and canceled putting several more on the market at the beginning of March,” says Tamir Shemesh, founder of the Shemesh Team at Douglas Elliman. “You can’t expect a buyer to purchase an apartment without seeing it.”