New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. to rent in so one can only imagine the price tags of the units actually for sale. Investing in real estate in New York City can be expensive, but nevertheless, an investment if NYC is the city where you see yourself living for the rest of your life. With more than 8.5 million people residing, across the five boroughs, there are plenty of housing and investment opportunities for those looking to purchase real estate. This monthly report has its focus on the previous transactions made in May, showing the most expensive transactions (commercial transactions excluded), celebrity transactions, and some statistics to go along with it. The data for the report is provided by ACRIS.
Some information about ACRIS
With data publicly available by ACRIS (ACRIS being the Automated City Register Information System) the public can search property records and view documents for Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, and Brooklyn from 1966 to the present. While RealtyHop has incorporated a feature that allows users of the site to conduct their own searches for buy/sell events by individuals, organizations, or property addresses, a report showing the number of transactions made in the past month as well as some insight to what properties go for, in which borough, has been provided in the report.
A brief look at the month of May
Total transactions statistics:
- Following the trend of the previous months, the borough with the most transactions was again Queens. Out of all the transactions made for the month of May, Queens ended up with approximately a total of 35% of the transactions. That’s 1% decrease in the overall transactions from the previous month, April. This was after obvious commercial, unknown, and transactions under $100,000 were excluded.
- The runner-up for the overall number of transactions in May went this time to Brooklyn instead of Manhattan, with Brooklyn having around 29% of the overall transactions for May. That’s a 4% increase from the previous month.
- Manhattan comes in at a solid third place, with an approximate 26% of the transactions made. The borough of Manhattan also saw a decrease in the overall percentage of transactions made this month, with an approximate decrease of 4% when compared with the month of April.
- Last but not least we have the borough of Bronx, coming in this month with an approximate 10% of the transactions made. That is an increase of 1% from April.
Median closing price per borough:
- The highest median closing price per borough yet again goes to Manhattan, with the median closing price being $1,050,000. That’s $100,000 less than for April, a decrease of 9% in the median closing price from April to May.
- The second highest median closing price was for Brooklyn, which had a median closing price of $808,855. The borough of Brooklyn is this month seeing an increase in the median closing price by $41,855 which makes out a 5% increase from the previous month.
- Coming in at number three, Queens had a median closing price of $560,000 in May. That is an increase of $20,164 or 4%.
- Last but not least there is the borough of Bronx. Along with the least transactions in May the borough also has the cheapest median closing price of $439,450. The Bronx also so an increase in the median closing price this month, more specifically an increase of $48,450 or 12%. That makes the Bronx the borough with the biggest increase in the median closing price compared to the month of April.
- All boroughs except Manhattan saw an increase in the median closing price this month. However, the decrease in the median closing price for Manhattan could possibly be related to last months big celebrity real estate transactions, such as Sting and his $50,000,000 apartment.
Celebrity transactions in May
Every month, celebrities are on the move in New York City and the month of May is no different. In the past month, we saw more celebrities selling property than we saw celebrities investing in property. Here are some of the past purchase transactions for the month of May.
BUYS
– Our favorite celebrity couple, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend ended up purchasing a Nolita PentHouse in May for a little over $9 million dollars. Fun fact, the couple used to live in the same building before.
– Another celebrity purchase in May was by actors Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, landing a $15.5 million in Brooklyn Heights.
* Several celebrities have been spotted putting their apartments up for sale recently so maybe the list of past sales will be longer for the month of June.
An overview of the total transactions made in May
The table below shows the total transactions in May for the boroughs Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Obvious commercial transactions have been removed from the table (as well as any transactions that didn’t clearly show if it was a commercial transaction or not). The data in the table is provided by ACRIS for the month of April and ranks the transactions by the most expensive. We limited the transactions listed below to those of the cost of $100,000 and above. To search for transactions by borough, please refer to using the search field.
As the table shows, there are a lot of purchases made through LLC’s and Ltd’s. While it is not uncommon to see public figures purchasing properties through LLC’s to keep their identity private, it is also not uncommon to see a lot of purchases under Ltd’s. For those investing in real estate, making the purchase through a company is highly beneficial for tax purposes.
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With data from ACRIS, RealtyHop is able to disclose the total number of transactions as well as the boroughs with the most transactions in the past month. We here at RealtyHop look for insight into the real estate market to provide buyers with as much information as possible so they can make an informed buying decision.
