Brooklyn Surpasses Manhattan in Multifamily Sales in Q3: Report

Sales of apartment buildings and other multifamily properties across New York City — specifically Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn — during the first three quarters of 2026 grew on a year-over-year basis, with Brooklyn coming out on top in the third quarter, according to the latest multifamily quarterly report from Ariel Property Advisors. 

Brooklyn saw the most multifamily activity in July, August and September with $693.8 million in total dollar volume, although that was a 12.8 percent decline from 2025’s third quarter, Ariel found. Brooklyn’s transaction volume also increased 12.7 percent in this year’s third quarter year-over-year to 178 sales. 

Meanwhile, dollar volume in Manhattan — below 96th street — declined 43.6 percent year-over-year to $685.2 million, according to Ariel. Transactions in the borough increased 1.8 percent to 58 for the third quarter. Upper Manhattan’s dollar volume — above 96th Street — grew by 32.8 percent on a year-over-year basis, while transactions declined 5.9 percent from the same quarter a year ago to 16.

Overall in the four boroughs that Ariel tracked, multifamily sales totaled $6.99 billion through 1,044 transactions in the first three quarters of 2026, representing yearly increases of 7.9 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. However, overall dollar volume for the third quarter declined by 23.3 percent year-over-year to $1.84 billion, the Ariel data found. During the third quarter, there were four transactions of $50 million or more that totaled $388.7 million, which is a decline from eight deals of that kind in the third quarter of 2025, which totaled $999.2 million.

Across the markets Ariel surveyed, properties that have 75 percent or more free-market units accounted for 63.1 percent of the third quarter’s dollar volume, while buildings with 75 percent or more rent-stabilized units held 19.2 percent of the market. Affordable housing represented 8.3 percent of the third quarter’s dollar volume this year. 

“Last quarter we continued to see a clear divergence in performance across multifamily property types,” Shimon Shkury, president and founder of Ariel Property Advisors, said in a statement. “Free-market properties and subsidized affordable housing with predictable cash flows continue to attract strong investor interest, while rent-stabilized assets face significant valuation pressure from regulatory constraints and financing challenges.” 

Over in the Bronx, dollar volume declined by 5 percent year-over-year in the third quarter to $123.5 million, while third-quarter transaction volume dipped 9.7 percent year-over-year to 28. Queens saw a 26.9 percent year-over-year rise in dollar volume for the third quarter, while transactions ticked up by 1.6 percent year-over-year to 62. 

“The expectation for 2026 is to finish stronger than the third quarter, the year’s weakest,” the Ariel report noted. “Contracts that stalled during the summer rate move are pushing to close before year-end, a shift already visible in October closings. We expect fourth-quarter volume to rebound.”

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