NEWS: The Big Apple Stays Polished

You've read that right, covid is not scaring away our luxury buyers in Manhattan, it's actually... reeling them in? 

“So far the first quarter has been tracking pretty close to what it was last year, which was a record year,” said Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty and the report’s author.

The recent most expensive deal closed was a duplex penthouse in Tribeca at a 13-unit building known as the Cast Iron House asking $14.95 million. Holy cow, can we be invited to the house warming? 

“This sale reflects the continued demand for trophy new development homes in Manhattan amid broader global unrest. Once we staged the property and officially put it on the market it sold in one day,” Ms. Alese said. 

So where are these people coming from and why are they choosing to move into the city while others are choosing the more suburban lifestyle? These city dwellers are headed straight to the big apple from California. They are trading one high-cost city for another. 

California has lost a significant number of residents since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only has in-migration declined, with the number of new Californians down in all of the state’s counties between March 2020 and September 2021, but out-migration has also increased by 12%, accroding to Mansion Global.

Why New York you ask? New York is giving Silicon Valley a run for its money,  with major tech companies opening new or expanding headquarters in the city. And last year, New York brought in more funding for cryptocurrency startups than any other region in the country. Cha Ching, it's time to take a swing in the concrete jungle. 

“The tech craze is driving demand,” Mr. Wendel said. “There are a lot of tech startups in New York now, and they’re plucking top talent from the big institutions like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Spotify.” 

So to all of our beloved Californians... is it true now that West Coast may not be the BEST Coast? (sorry we had to... with love ~ your new east coast friends).