New York Real Estate, September 2026: Manhattan Listings Down 15%, Rents Near Records

New York real estate is short of apartments, to buy and to rent. Manhattan's active sale listings in August were down 15% from a year earlier, contracts above $5 million rose 13%, and the median Manhattan rent reached $5,285. For New Yorkers weighing a second home or a move to the Caribbean, a thin market at home is leverage.

The numbers

Manhattan sales

• Q2 2026: median sale price $1.25 million, up 4.2% year over year. Closed sales fell 6.3% and listings fell 15% (Elliman Report by Miller Samuel).

• August 2026: 799 contracts signed, down 6% from August 2025. Average price per square foot $1,833, up 1%. Condos rose 3% to $2,047 per square foot; co-ops fell 10% to $1,229. Active listings: 4,992, down 15%. Buyers paid on average 3.9% below the last asking price (Corcoran, August 2026).

• $5 million and up, August: 52 contracts, up 13% year over year. Inventory of 737 listings, which Corcoran puts at a 12-year low. Price per square foot fell 6% to $3,188.

Brooklyn sales

• Q2 2026: median sale price $1.36 million, up 4.1%. Condos reached a $1.49 million median, up 14.8% (Elliman Report). Average marketing time was 72 days, the fastest second quarter in a decade (Corcoran).

Rents, August 2026

• Manhattan: median rent $5,285, up 7% year over year; vacancy 1.51%; 5,107 listings, down 17%.

• Brooklyn: median rent $4,368, a new record, up 5% (Corcoran rental report).

Why it matters for New Yorkers looking south

The equity is there, and so is the buyer pool. With listings down 15% and average discounts under 4%, a well-priced Manhattan condo sells into a market with few alternatives. A seller at the $1.25 million Manhattan median, or the $1.49 million Brooklyn condo median, is in a range where an island condo can be bought outright. At Indigo Bay, for example, condos start at about $900,000, and other parts of the Dutch side start lower.

Co-op owners face a different picture. Co-op prices per square foot were down 10% in August, and average co-op maintenance reached $3,077 a month in Q2, up 10.2% (Miller Samuel). Owners who have been waiting for a better co-op exit should compare the cost of holding another year with the price they can get now.

Renting in New York has become a strategy. With Manhattan vacancy near 1.5%, some owners keep the apartment, lease it at today's rents and buy on the island with other funds. Others sell and rent in the city. Both work on paper; the choice depends on taxes and how long you plan to keep a New York base, which is a question for your accountant.

Financing costs moved against borrowers. The Fed raised rates on September 16 and the 30-year mortgage average passed 7% the following week. We covered that in our Fed and mortgage rates story. For a New York buyer, it means sale proceeds are worth more than borrowing capacity right now.

No currency step on the Dutch side. Sint Maarten property is priced in US dollars and the local currency is pegged to the dollar. A New Yorker moving sale proceeds from Manhattan to Simpson Bay does not convert anything. On the French side, prices are in euros.

Our read

The numbers say New York sellers, condo owners in particular, still hold a good hand: low inventory, modest discounts and an active luxury buyer. That is the moment to take equity out, not the moment to wait for a perfect peak nobody can call.

We would not buy on the island before the New York side is settled, unless the purchase is fully funded without it. Contract dates in Manhattan and closing dates in Sint Maarten rarely line up by accident; we plan them together with our clients and their New York attorneys. On the Dutch side, count on a 10% deposit held by the notary and roughly 5% in closing costs on top of the price.

For a New Yorker used to $2,000 a square foot, the island's value is plain. The real work is choosing the right neighborhood and building for how you will actually use the home: a lock-and-leave condo in Maho or Cupecoy, or a villa in Terres Basses or Indigo Bay that earns rental income when you are not there.

See what is available now on our properties for sale page.

Sources: Elliman Report by Miller Samuel, Manhattan and Brooklyn Q2 2026, via Brick Underground (July 2 and July 9, 2026); Corcoran, Manhattan Condo and Co-op Sales and Manhattan $5M+ Luxury Sales, August 2026 (September 3, 2026); Corcoran, NYC Residential Rental Market Report, August 2026 (September 10, 2026); Corcoran, Brooklyn Q2 2026; Freddie Mac PMMS (September 24, 2026).

Ready to look at what is on the market? Browse our condos for sale in Sint Maarten and villas for sale in Sint Maarten, or see every property for sale.