7 things to know about the New York City commercial real estate market right now

April 22, 2020

From Manhattan retail and office space, to Brooklyn multifamily home sales, here’s a look at what recent reports are telling us about New York City-area commercial real estate market at this moment.

MANHATTAN OFFICE LEASING VOLUME WAS CUT IN HALF.

Leasing volume in Manhattan’s office market dropped nearly 50% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with Q4 2019, to 6.82 million square feet.

That’s according to a new report by Colliers International.

March saw leasing volume fail to 1.6 million square feet, down from 3.56 million square feet in January and 2.1 million square feet taken in February.

The drop-offs in Q1. 2020 followed a strong 2019, where Manhattan’s leasing volume was higher than any year since 2001, according to Colliers.

MANHATTAN’S RETAIL SECTOR HAS BEEN IMPACTED, TOO.

The Manhattan retail real estate market has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by brokerage CBRE.

Average asking rent rent dropped to $714 per square foot in the first quarter of this year, a 9% year-over-year decline and the 10th consecutive quarter where the rental rate declined, according to the report.

Rolling aggregate leasing velocity – which looks at the total leasing for the four prior quarters with adjustments taken into account – was 3.6 million square feet for Q1 2020. That was down 4% from the fourth quarter of 2019, while still a bit up from early 2018, according to CBRE.

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