Manhattan’s Supply of New Condos to Hit Highest Level Since 2014 This Fall: Report

Pumpkin spice and everything nice, that’s what fall is all about. Unless you’re a condo developer in Manhattan. Then fall is all about getting busy — a lot more busy.

The fourth quarter of 2026 is expected to show a release of 768 new sponsor units across 20 new developments, the largest quarterly release since 2014, according to research from Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing (BHSDM) shared exclusively with Commercial Observer. (Sponsor units are those condos sold directly by the developer.) 

“In the market there has been a supply constraint for several years as it relates to new inventory of units,” Robin Schneiderman, a managing director at BHSDM, told CO. “Over the last couple years, there’s been some pent-up demand as it relates to the sale of developed sites throughout Manhattan. 

“Traditionally, it could take anywhere from a year to two years for a developer to acquire land, plan the building, start construction, and then eventually get to the market,” Schneiderman added. “What we’re seeing finally is some of those plans that have been in the works are starting to come to the market to alleviate, in my view, some of the supply challenges.”

BHSDM’s data analysis relates to the number of new units that were introduced to the Manhattan condo market over the last five years, Schneiderman noted. The total number of units projected to be delivered in Manhattan in 2026 is about 1,100. Some 3,123 units exist in Manhattan today. 

“What’s interesting is that 768 of those are going to hit the market in the fall,” he said. “Now, that’s the total number of units. It doesn’t mean that all of a sudden you’re going to have 768 apartments come on the market, because each project will release units to the market as part of their sales and marketing process. 

“But, the bigger story is that in our current pipeline we have approximately 20 new buildings that will start sales. Twenty buildings with 768 new units is significantly higher than any other fourth quarter — fall market — that we’ve seen in a long time,” Schneiderman said.

In 2023, only 41 sponsor units were delivered in the fourth quarter, and in 2024, there were only 90 new units. In 2025, 264 units were delivered, according to BHSDM data, with the five-year average hitting approximately 263 units.

When comparing inventory across neighborhoods, Manhattan’s Upper East Side has had a “couple of banner years” Schneiderman said. The Upper East Side has about 119 units available for sale, and there are approximately 166 units expected to hit the market this fall. 

Schneiderman said the slow return to heightened inventory is a direct product of the COVID-19 pandemic, as there was a “big absorption of inventory, and then the market for new products slowed in terms of the sale of development sites and capital that was in the market to finance those projects.

“Now that the market has shown several examples of success in the last 12 months — I could count like five or six projects that are now sold out that only came on the market less than 12 months ago — the investors or the capital markets world has gotten comfortable with investing into these projects again because they’re seeing the absorption rates and the demand in the market,” he said.

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.