New York City’s multifamily volume totaled $2.21 billion in Q1 2025, a 62% year-over-year increase with sales largely concentrated in free market assets, according to GREA’s Q1 2025 Multifamily Quarter in Review New York City. Transaction volume rose 5% from Q1 2024 to 269.
Predominantly free market assets accounted for 88% of the first quarter’s total dollar volume, the highest share on record, and 58% of all multifamily transactions. Rent-stabilized properties represented 41% of the transactions in Q1 2025 but only 11% of total dollar volume, the second-lowest share in the past five years.
“The surge of interest in free market multifamily properties from all investor types is a clear vote of confidence,” said Shimon Shkury, President and Founder of Ariel Property Advisors. “It signals where capital wants to be — in assets with stable fundamentals and upside — especially as rent-stabilized properties remain clouded by regulatory uncertainty.”
Free market sales activity was largely concentrated in high-income neighborhoods, including Manhattan below 96th Street and Prime Brooklyn, with a focus on buildings that had less than 25% rent-stabilized units or benefited from a 421a tax exemption. Investor faith in this space is reinforced by pricing momentum with rents up 7.2% in Manhattan and 9.4% in Brooklyn, according to the March 2025 Elliman Report. Free market buildings in Brooklyn posted a 9% year-over-year PPSF gain—the city’s highest
The rent-stabilized market has experienced a broad slowdown in activity, as owners and lenders grapple with the ongoing distress facing these properties triggered by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019, inflation and interest rate hikes. The report noted that many owners are seeking creative solutions, such as loan restructurings or paydowns, while others are navigating prolonged foreclosure proceedings, coordinating property sales, or even turning to litigation. In many cases, neither party wants to take ownership of the asset given the current market conditions.
Brooklyn. Brooklyn led all submarkets in Q1 2025, accounting for nearly half of New York City’s total dollar volume. Year-over-year, the borough’s dollar volume jumped 138% to $1.06 billion, and transactions rose 9% to 139. The majority (96%) of the dollar volume came from free market sales, and the borough saw four of the city’s top five free market deals, all above $50 million. In a significant transaction, Steiner NYC bought back the 62% stake in 333 Schermerhorn Street from JP Morgan for $259.5 million—$6.5 million more than its 2019 sale price—as part of a $420 million recapitalization.
Manhattan. In Manhattan, multifamily sales totaled $868.51 million, a 36% year-over-year increase, across 45 transactions. Of the dollar volume, 92% of the sales were for predominantly free market buildings. Notably, Ares Management acquired a 75% interest from Mitsui Fudosan America in select tax lots within 525 W 52nd Street for $202.2 million. The transaction encompasses the market-rate condominium portion of the property, which includes 313 residential units benefiting from a 421a tax exemption, and a 1,678-square-foot retail space. The deal implies a total valuation of approximately $270 million for the assets.
Queens. Dollar volume increased 19% year-over-year to $161.66 million, and transactions for the period rose 14% to 59. Sales of rent stabilized buildings accounted for 90% of the dollar volume and 82% of the transactions. Barberry Rose Management sold 183-11 Hillside Avenue in Jamaica for $20.35 million ($146 PSF / $121,000 per unit). Held for over four decades, it was the largest rent-stabilized deal of the quarter. Owner Lewis Barbanel remarked that policy conditions are increasingly untenable and noted a pivot in focus toward New Jersey and other markets.
The Bronx. In the Bronx, dollar volume totaled $85 million, a slight 3% decline year-over-year but transactions rose 78% to 25. Sales of rent stabilized assets accounted for 76% of the dollar volume and 64% of the transactions. Significant sales included a 167,994-square-foot multifamily at 375 & 385-391 Mosholu Parkway N, which traded for $13.8 million, and a 141,594-square-foot building at 1475 Wythe Place & 1930 Anthony Avenue, which traded for $9 million.
Northern Manhattan. Northern Manhattan, a submarket significantly impacted by HSTPA, saw no rent-stabilized trades during the quarter, setting a record low for overall multifamily transaction volume in the area. The submarket saw one free market multifamily transaction, a 50,908-square-foot property at 2283 3rd Avenue that sold for $28.3 million. However, the report noted that this quarter was an outlier, with increased activity anticipated ahead. Currently, Ariel Property Advisors has over $200 million in multifamily assets on the market in Northern Manhattan, including nearly $50 million in predominantly rent-stabilized properties.
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