In Manhattan, the drops were stunning. July contracts for co-ops priced between $4 million and $5 million were down 94 percent from the same month last year. No contracts were signed for condos above $20 million. Across all price brackets, condo and co-op contracts were down 56 percent.

But in Brooklyn — where New Yorkers often migrate to in search of bigger homes and more open space — the numbers surged: 178 new condo contracts in July, up from 147 last year. Deals for single-family homes more than doubled.

The complete picture of July contracts shows that while the Manhattan market is struggling, buyers are flocking to areas with space, including Brooklyn, Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut.

“Manhattan seems to be its own separate entity,” said Miller Samuel’s Jonathan Miller, who authored the report, “And I think that had a lot to do with the exodusback in March and April when about 40 percent of the residents of Manhattan moved out — and they haven’t come back yet.”

The shift in demand has upended the pace of business for brokers in the city and suburbs alike. Manhattan brokers, idled when the state shut down in March, are now working with a limited pool of buyers as the effects of the pandemic meet the natural clearing of the summer vacation season. (Just three properties above $4 million went into contract last week.)

In the Hamptons, brokers have been working overtime — so much so that home options for wealthy buyers are thinning, according to brokers in the area. “We have a very saturated market, there’s not a lot of optionality — people are definitely fitting round pegs in square holes in the process.”

(source: therealdeal.com)