Some New York City real estate agents believed wealthy residents would flee the Big Apple after Zohran Mamdani's election, but the November housing market data from local brokerages suggest the opposite has happened.
New contracts signed for co-op units in Manhattan rose 34%, from 384 in November 2024 to 515 last month, according to the most recent figures from Douglas Elliman and property appraisal firm Miller Samuel. Contracts for condominium units rose 3.1% from 318 to 328 year over year, while contracts for one- through three-bedroom single-family homes increased 43% from 14 in November 2024 to 20 last month.
Similar growth took place in Brooklyn, according to the Elliman report. Co-op signings in the borough rose nearly 16%, from 102 to 118, while condo signings grew 44%, from 159 to 229. Contract signings for one- to three-bedroom single-family homes jumped 57%, from 114 to 179.
New listings in Brooklyn and Manhattan also rose during the period, according to Elliman's report.
The jump in homebuying activity occurred in the three weeks following Mamdani's election as mayor.
Mamdani, 34, won City Hall after defeating former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani, a former state Assemblyman who represented Queens, campaigned on promises to freeze rent price hikes and increase property taxes on residents earning $1 million or more a year. Mamdani is the first Muslim-American elected mayor of the nation's largest city.
In the weeks leading up to the election, real estate agents said they had been fielding phone calls from clients about leaving the city, as they had feared that Mamdani — a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist — would be elected. Some clients were eyeing Florida as their new home destination, but another noticeable chunk of clients said they were interested in moving to nearby Westchester County.
"We’re seeing a clear correlation between Mamdani’s primary win and an uptick in Westchester interest," Compass agent Zach Harrison told Homes.com in a statement in October.
However, the latest Elliman statistics should lead New Yorkers to one conclusion, other real estate watchers said.
"There is no Mamdani effect," Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty, told Homes.com. "The idea that people would flee New York was overblown. The numbers just aren’t bearing that out."
Olshan's brokerage also noted that homebuying activity spiked. During the final week of November, buyers signed new contracts for 17 homes in Manhattan — all of which were priced at more than $4 million, according to Olshan's weekly tally.
Homebuying in Manhattan and Brooklyn rose even as prices and competition increased throughout the year, and mortgage rates remained above 6%.
"Prices and high [mortgage] rates aren’t a concern for luxury buyers in New York City, where the luxury market posted its strongest week since May," Ryan Serhant, founder of brokerage Serhant, said in a Nov. 30 note. "It’s as clear an indication as any of the durability of the New York City luxury market despite the headlines and political noise surrounding the recent mayoral election."