Homebuying activity in New York City's second-largest borough is cooling — mostly due to factors beyond the control of your average Brooklynite.
Inventory for co-ops and condominium units in Brooklyn fell 1% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, according to the brokerage Corcoran. The median sales price for those properties fell 3% in the quarter to $810,000, while the number of contracts signed for buying a property fell 5% to 1,048.
Further underscoring the drop, the number of closed sales fell 17% to 1,169 in the quarter, according to Corcoran. Prices and sales have fallen because economic and political challenges — including elevated mortgage rates, tariffs from the Trump administration, and New York's mayoral election — eroded homebuyer sentiment, Corcoran said in its latest market report.
"Brooklyn's real estate market started the second quarter with solid momentum, but as economic and political uncertainty grew, activity naturally began to cool," Michael Sorrentino, Corcoran's senior vice president and general sales manager for New York, said in a statement.
The borough saw a noteworthy inventory drop in homes priced under $1 million, which accounts for a large chunk of residential real estate deals, Corcoran said in its report.
"This reduction makes it more difficult for price-sensitive buyers to find suitable options, intensifying competition in an already tight market," the brokerage said.
Other Big Apple brokerages said they also noticed Brooklyn's inventory plunge. In its latest market report, Compass said inventory for existing homes rose "modestly."
"However, new listings declined across all property types, down 6.5% for houses and 3.3% for condos likely due to sellers still holding onto low mortgage rates, and the market remaining undersupplied," Compass said in its report.
Sorrentino and other housing market watchers say there's enough demand in Brooklyn for the borough to rebound from its second-quarter performance.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers are four months away from a mayoral election that pits Republican Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Eric Adams against Democrat Zohran Mamdani. Former governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week that he's also entering the race as an independent after losing the Democratic primary against Mamdani.
The Mamdani campaign said it plans to shake up New York's housing market by freezing rent increases and raising property taxes on wealthy residents who earn at least $1 million a year — a proposal that has caused a stir among local real estate agents.