Manhattan’s luxury real estate market ground to a halt last week, with just one trophy home asking more than $10 million entering contract — as brokers told The Post that anti-wealth rhetoric from Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the controversial pied-à-terre tax are spooking affluent buyers.
Only one eight-figure-plus home found a buyer between July 6 and July 12, even as 29 Manhattan homes priced at $4 million or more went into contract during the period, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly luxury market report.
Realtors told The Post that normally between three to five properties priced at $10 million and upwards enter contract per week.
The broader luxury market was far more resilient. Nineteen condos, six co-ops and four townhouses priced at $4 million or more entered contract during the week, with 20 of the 29 deals involving homes asking less than $6 million.
The lone trophy-home deal marked the weakest week for Manhattan’s $10 million-plus market since the last week of December, according to the report.
Compass broker Victoria Shtainer told The Post the slowdown reflects growing unease among wealthy buyers over New York’s political climate and tax burden.
“It was shocking in a really bad way,” Shtainer told The Post. “The luxury buyer [is] backing off and thinking twice.”
Shtainer, who works with international buyers and luxury condominium developments, said affluent purchasers are increasingly scrutinizing whether New York remains an attractive place to own a second home.
“I think the $10 million-plus buyer is an educated buyer,” she said. “They really do their homework. They understand taxes, property tax. They have advisers. This is something that they’re considering, and they’re looking at New York as a whole. Is it friendly for the wealthy buyer or not?”
While summer is typically a slower season for Manhattan real estate, Shtainer said the latest numbers were well below normal.
“Summers are slower. But not this slow,” she told The Post.
But Jonathan Miller, founder of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, said the weakness at the top end of the market is consistent with broader second-quarter trends.
“It’s consistent with what we saw in the second quarter where the market above $10 million is down, but the market just below that is up,” Miller told The Post. “It’s almost a shift in the mix.”
Miller cautioned against reading too much into one week’s data, noting that Wall Street compensation and tech-sector wealth remain strong.
“It’s hard to say whether this is a trend,” he said. “It’s also the summer and I wonder if it’s just something seasonal that we’re entering.”
While some brokers have blamed Mamdani’s rhetoric for cooling demand, Miller said there is “no specific evidence” that wealthy buyers are leaving New York faster because of the new administration.
Instead, if anything is giving buyers pause, he said, it may be uncertainty surrounding implementation of the city’s pied-à-terre tax.
“The pied-à-terre tax may be a driver of this pause,” Miller said.
“However, we are seeing the same behavior in the Hamptons, which is joined at the hip with Manhattan.”
The lone $10 million-plus contract last week was for a condominium at 1122 Madison Ave. with an asking price of $21.8 million, according to the Olshan report. The next-priciest signed deal was a Chelsea condo asking just under $10 million.
The Post has sought comment from Mamdani.
