Shimon Shkury
President and Founder
Ariel Property Advisors
Free market buildings led multifamily sales citywide, accounting for 66% of dollar volume and 48% of transactions. Rent stabilized assets followed in deal frequency (47%) but trailed in value (20%), while affordable housing rounded out the market with 13% of the volume and 6% of transactions
“In 2025, the numbers tell the story,” said Shimon Shkury, President and Founder of Ariel Property Advisors. “Capital rewarded free-market housing with rising valuations, affordable housing remained active through strong public-private alignment and rent-stabilized assets traded at steep discounts as NOI eroded under policy and cost pressures.”
The rent stabilized sector continued to grapple with regulations, rising costs and mortgage maturities at higher rates. Compared to valuations before HSTPA passed in 2019, the average price per unit in rent stabilized buildings fell in every submarket–Northern Manhattan (down 47%), Manhattan (down 45%), the Bronx (down 44%), Queens (down 33%), and Brooklyn (down 25%). Some rent stabilized assets traded for discounts of 70% to 90%.
Submarket highlights Manhattan
• Manhattan’s multifamily market remained steady in 2025, with $3.44 billion in dollar volume and 185 transactions—both figures flat year-over-year. • Larger predominantly free market buildings accounted for 94% of the dollar volume and 78% of the transactions • Pricing trends remained resilient, with the average price per unit for fully free market assets reaching $635,209 in 2025, up 13% from 2024 and 64% from 2023, but still 12% below the 2015 peak of $719,604. • The largest sale in 2025 was 10 Waterside Plaza in Kips Bay, a 1.8 million square foot asset that traded for $650 million at the end of last year.
Brooklyn
• Dollar volume in Brooklyn dipped 3% year over year to $3.47 billion while transactions rose 7% to 582. • Large predominantly free-market buildings drove the market, accounting for 64% of total dollar volume, while rent-stabilized properties and those with regulatory agreements each contributed 18%. • Significant trades in the second half of the year included 395 Leonard Street in Williamsburg, which sold for $127.5 million, and 125 3rd Street in Gowanus, which sold for $105 million.
Queens
• Queens’ multifamily market showed modest growth in 2025, with dollar volume rising 3% to $879 million and transaction counts increasing 4% to 264 compared to the previous year. • Affordable housing with regulatory agreements accounted for 44% of total dollar volume, while rent-stabilized assets claimed over 50% of the transactions. • The Lefrak Organization’s South QN Multifamily Portfolio, a 755-unit, nine property affordable housing asset in Richmond Hill, traded for $109.5 million, or $152/SF and $145,000/unit.
The Bronx
• In the Bronx, dollar volume jumped by a significant 66% year-over-year to $880.67 million and transactions rose 21% to 110. • Large rent stabilized units dominated sales in the borough with 72% of the dollar volume and 78% of the transaction volume. • Related Companies' $189 million sale of a 2,021-unit Bronx portfolio marked the largest rent-stabilized transaction of 2025. Trading at $90/SF and approximately $94,000/unit, the deal underscores the continued exit of institutional players from stabilized assets and opportunistic acquisitions by private investors at historically low valuations.
Northern Manhattan
• Dollar volume fell 54% to $325.5 million, while transaction volume dipped 28% to 47. • Free Market assets captured the most dollar volume (46%), but Rent Stabilized properties led transaction activity with 50% of all deals for buildings over 10 units. • Ariel arranged the sale of a 308,256-square-foot recently constructed LIHTC affordable housing portfolio at 1951 Park Avenue and 200 East 131st Street in East Harlem for $55.6 million.
The full Multifamily Year in Review New York City report is available here.
