New York City
All Asset Investment
Sales Report H1 2026

H1 2026 investment sales rebounded to $17.38 billion across 1,224 transactions—a 37% year-over-year jump in dollar volume and the strongest first half since 2022. However, with transaction counts up just 5%, this represents a concentrated cyclical high driven by large deals rather than a broad market recovery.

The top 25 transactions represented just 2% of all trades but accounted for 37% of total dollar volume, highlighting a market with fewer deals and much larger capital commitments.

Multifamily, Development and Office led the half. Retail posted the highest average price per square foot in a decade. Hotel and Special Purpose were each defined by one or two transformative transactions. Industrial was the single segment that declined.

Office

Office investment sales totaled $3.76 billion across 62 transactions and 82 properties in H1 2026, which is up 31% in dollar volume year over year on essentially flat deal count, marking the strongest office half since 2022.

The largest trade was SL Green's $730 million purchase of 65 East 55th Street from Blackstone ($1,176/SF), roughly 20% of all office volume in a single deal. Blackstone sold into a mortgage maturity at just a 3% discount to its $750 million 2014 basis — and SL Green, already an owner in the submarket, underwrote that reset basis on strengthening fundamentals, a sign premier Manhattan office has decoupled from the broader office narrative.

Manhattan office leasing is showing clear momentum, supported by strong tenant demand from law firms, technology companies, and AI firms. According to Colliers, the first half was the most active since 2022, with 4.2 million square feet leased in May, up 35% year over year, bringing year-to-date leasing volume to 19.6 million square feet.¹ Recent commitments from Simpson Thacher, Google, and Anthropic point to continued demand for high-quality Manhattan office space.

Conviction remains bifurcated. A new discounted lease up bet emerged through David Werner's $270 million purchase of the 72% occupied One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (885 Second Avenue) at roughly $330 per square foot. Meanwhile, Class B and C assets kept capitulating, as evidenced by PIMCO's exit of 25 Elm Place in Brooklyn for $55 million against a $146 million 2013 trade. Trophy assets are refinanceable, leaseable, and buyable at near peak basis; everything else is a conversion play or a distress exit.

Multifamily

New York City multifamily produced $4.95 billion in sales across 652 transactions and 868 properties in H1 2026, marking an increase of 21% in dollar volume, 6% in deal count, and 11% in property count year over year. This segment captured the highest transaction count of any asset class.

Free market multifamily² captured 65% of all multifamily dollar volume, as Manhattan apartment occupancy rose to 94.8% in February³ and posted the first back to back monthly rent gains in seven months. Conversely, rent stabilized trading remained dominated by distress. Unlike rent-stabilized assets trapped under severe inflation, the affordable sector operates under absolute public-private alignment.

The free market bellwether was Carmel Partners' acquisition of MetLife's 50% interest in five Upper West Side buildings containing 710 units for $241 million at about 24% discount from the previous trade in 2012. This was unlocked by stepping into the seller's in place, below market Fannie Mae financing at 2.6% interest rate. The portfolio's 421a tax abatement expires in 5 years (2031).

A full free market, rent stabilized, and affordable breakdown will follow in our detailed Q2 2026 multifamily report.

Development

Development produced $3.88 billion across 219 transactions and 324 properties in H1 2026. This is up 61% in dollar volume year over year on a 4% rise in deal count, even though property count fell 2%. This stands as the strongest development half since 2022 and the second largest asset class of the period.

Development's rebound is policy-driven, led by 485-x. Most builders stay under 99 units to dodge the program's prevailing-wage threshold — 91% of the 281 proposed buildings in REBNY's Q1 report⁴ did. By Ariel's data, 485-x deals drove ~$870 million (70% of ground-up rental volume) across 106 trades at $211/BSF. The exception to the 99-unit trend was the bellweather: Rockefeller Group's $96 million ($239/BSF) buy of 200-204 W 97th Street, planned as a single ~300-unit rental instead of the sub-99-unit build most developers use to stay non-union.

Residential conversions are being pulled forward by the 467-m incentive, which is now hitting its first deadline: projects that commenced construction by June 2026 locked in the full 35-year tax exemption, dropping to 30 years after that and 25 years after June 2028 — and City of Yes density rules improve the math further. Two transactions illustrate the trend: Quantum Pacific and MetroLoft's $135 million acquisition of 845 Third Avenue, and BGO's $105 million sale of 2 Rector Street, a 52% discount to its 2016 basis. The Q3 test is whether these pipelines hold into execution.

Beyond residential, momentum was propelled by major office, institutional, and commercial conversion plays. This includes the half's largest single site trade: Northwell Health's roughly $230 million purchase of 96-05 Queens Boulevard for a 1 million-plus BSF commercial-to-medical conversion at $226/BSF. Additionally, Extell executed the cycle's largest Midtown office land play with a $500 million assemblage at 405 and 417 Park Avenue ($1,502/BSF), while Bally's boosted totals with a $156.6 million Ferry Point acquisition to anchor a projected $4 billion Bronx casino resort.