Manhattan's Multiple Offers - But Not Achieving Asking

Laura Cook

New member
I work in Manhattan and do a lot in the sub $2M with buyers and sellers. I have been seeing several multiple offer situations on both sides- and in every case the buyers will win the highest and best (or individual negotiations) landing BELOW the asking prices....I think this trend is going to shift over the next couple months. Is anyone else seeing the same thing??
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
Welcome Laura!!! Thanks for joining the forum!! Very very interesting to hear this and thanks for sharing. I think it makes sense given that Manhattan has seen: huge recovery in activity without a huge recovery in price action.

Its another sign for buyers out there, you did not miss anything yet! Yes the fear trade discount is no longer there from 10 months ago and yes sellers feel the recovery and are behaving accordingly, but I dont think price action for the covid discount has fully played out in reports and in nthe field in realtime, I think we only recover a fraction of the covid pricing discount, much of that the fear discount fraction

great stuff
 
Very interesting indeed - and a tough spot for sellers When to recognize the bids are as good as they are going to get when they are all below your price?
If there are several offers at below the ask, then this IS the market; the ask is a 'suggested' number. If a seller has luxury of actually receiving several offers in today's market, then truly, they need to understand that the market is not at the asking price.
 
I work in Manhattan and do a lot in the sub $2M with buyers and sellers. I have been seeing several multiple offer situations on both sides- and in every case the buyers will win the highest and best (or individual negotiations) landing BELOW the asking prices....I think this trend is going to shift over the next couple months. Is anyone else seeing the same thing??
yes.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
I think sellers and their brokers have not accepted the new market paradigm and are still expecting things to go at or over asking price. I'm getting emails touting things like a price drop from $4.995M to $4.75M as some huge markdown. But what does it really do? In my mind the purpose of a price reduction is to get new sets of eyes on the property. Who is looking at something at $4.75M who wouldn't at $4.995M?

I'm thinking it's the old thought process that sellers want at or above asking so therefore buyers with Max at $4.75 wouldn't look at the higher prices listing. However it seems obvious in the current market that buyers are looking at asking prices well above their max and then negotiating. Therefore what does such a price drop accomplish except signal neediness on the part of the seller? Of course it can be an agent who knows they "bought" the listing with aspirational pricing and is nibbling it down any way they can, but I think it's been fairly well shown this is a lousy strategy for sellers (multiple small price drops rather than going directly to where the listing should be priced).

All this leads to a significantly longer time on the market, and the data shows the longer time on the market the bigger discount it takes to get a deal done.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence and then success is sure."
Mark Twain
 
I agree with David here, having several bids come in below the ask, and the seller accepting one, perfectly normal. What could be viewed as an 'abnormal' situation, several people bidding above an already inflated asking price! We've only recently submitted bids above ask on a handful of brownstones in Brooklyn. We've recently also submitted a handful of offers on properties in Manhattan, where we knew there were other offers and to my knowledge, none went above ask. Just yesterday we received an email from a broker regarding a newly listed property on fifth avenue we showed asking for best and highest offers, a broker you've interviewed Noah.
 

John Walkup

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
We've only recently submitted bids above ask on a handful of brownstones in Brooklyn.
Interesting - I'd be curious to hear about your buyers' thought process when bidding on Brooklyn brownstones. Are they bidding up because they are no substitutes, they see long-term appreciation or a combination of some kind?
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
I work in Manhattan and do a lot in the sub $2M with buyers and sellers. I have been seeing several multiple offer situations on both sides- and in every case the buyers will win the highest and best (or individual negotiations) landing BELOW the asking prices....I think this trend is going to shift over the next couple months. Is anyone else seeing the same thing??
So a month later what are we seeing?
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
I think this could be a good example of what the market is doing:

First showing 2/27.
In contract 3/10.
A few years ago this would have meant it went for significantly over asking price. I guess we will find out after it closes.
 

aveltmp

New member
I work in Manhattan and do a lot in the sub $2M with buyers and sellers. I have been seeing several multiple offer situations on both sides- and in every case the buyers will win the highest and, best (or individual negotiations) landing BELOW the asking prices....I think this trend is going to shift over the next couple months. Is anyone else seeing the same thing??

A good one to think about, I feel it won't be that smooth with more time passes by. But sooner or later this will be healthy for the seller too.

Regards,
 

MCR

Active member
Interesting - I'd be curious to hear about your buyers' thought process when bidding on Brooklyn brownstones. Are they bidding up because they are no substitutes, they see long-term appreciation or a combination of some kind?
I would like to know what those buyers are thinking as well. Are they wed to the location because of long-term attachment or are they newcomers? I feel that in markets such as these, when people bid above ask or near ask, they are individuals who have a particular human attachment to the location (family, school, familiarity). Alternatively, maybe the "ask" was particularly smart/strategic/not aspirational/grounded in actual market conditions.?
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
I would like to know what those buyers are thinking as well. Are they wed to the location because of long-term attachment or are they newcomers? I feel that in markets such as these, when people bid above ask or near ask, they are individuals who have a particular human attachment to the location (family, school, familiarity). Alternatively, maybe the "ask" was particularly smart/strategic/not aspirational/grounded in actual market conditions.?
"I feel that in markets such as these, when people bid above ask or near ask, they are individuals who have a particular human attachment to the location (family, school, familiarity)." - this is my experience too. I had a bidding war for 2M at 245 e 93, it was the pruvate 600sft terrace that did it for me and Im sure it did same for the others. I also wonder if bidding wars fed on themselves - ie the cycle starts with deal vol rising --> buyer loses a few good places --> buyer finds another, bids more aggressively --> continues until it doesnt I guess
 
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