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Manhattan Home Sales Fall Most on Record in Locked-Down Quarter

  • Purchases tumble 54%, biggest drop in data going back to 1990
  • Shutdown banned in-person home showings, complicated closings
The Empire State and Chrysler buildings are seen through a fireplace in the penthouse apartment at the 50 United Nations Plaza building in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. About 3,574 newly built apartments will reach the market in 2016, according to brokerage Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.
Photographer: Michael Nagle

Manhattan home sales plunged the most on record in the second quarter, while New York was shut down to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Purchases of co-ops and condos in the borough tumbled 54% from a year earlier to 1,357, according to a report Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. It was the biggest annual decline since the firms started keeping the data in 1990.