The increase in sales can be attributed primarily to a rise in the overall stock market, Wall Street expectations for large bonuses, and lower mortgage interest rates.
Tisch remains NYPD commissioner under Mamdani administration
Jessica Tisch will remain NYPD Commissioner under incoming New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani.
Fox – 5 New York
NEW YORK – Margaret Flint was 18 years old when she first moved to Manhattan from her childhood home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, in 1970.
She had just enrolled at Barnard College and had been sharing an apartment with classmates on the Upper West Side for about four years. While living in Manhattan, he attended law school and got married. She and her husband moved to the suburbs in the early 1990s.
On Nov. 4, the day New York City elected a new mayor, Ms. Flynt signed a contract for $1.4 million to buy a two-bedroom apartment in the same building she called home as a student at Barnard College.
That night, the city elected Zoran Mamdani, a 34-year-old member of the Democratic Socialists of America, who became New York’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor.
Mamdani, who President Donald Trump has derided as a “household communist,” campaigned on a promise to raise taxes on corporations and those making more than $1 million a year to pay for free buses and universal child care. He had previously advocated for defunding the police, but abandoned the idea during his mayoral campaign. Mamdani, who has vowed to protect Jewish New Yorkers from hate crimes, has also drawn criticism for his anti-Zionist views and history of pro-Palestinian activism.
Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic primary in June strongly suggested he would win the general election in the Democratic-dominated city. News reports soon claimed that real estate agents in Florida and Connecticut were claiming that wealthy New Yorkers were fleeing the big city.
Facebook groups for moms in the city’s wealthiest enclaves, like the Upper East Side, are filled with nervous posts about the city’s fate. Will the rich run away? Will crime increase?
But most people in the Facebook group indicated they weren’t moving anywhere. And even after hearing the chatter, Mr. Flint signed on the dotted line without a moment’s pause.
“People lose their minds at the thought of having to leave the city,” said Flint, 73. “I agree with his policies. I think New York should be a place where all kinds of people can and want to live. That means everyone has to pay their fair share.”
Mr. Flint isn’t the only wealthy person still betting on New York.
“False narrative”: “If people were evacuated from cities, prices would fall.”
After Mr. Mamdani shot to fame with his June primary victory, rental prices in Manhattan rose at twice the rate of inflation year-on-year. The increase was even higher in the luxury rental market, said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants and author of the Elliman report.
Overall median rent increased 7.1% from October 2024 to October 2025 to $4,600. Median rents in the luxury market rose 20% over the same period to $11,995. High-income earners were unfazed by Mamdani’s large lead in general election polls from summer to fall.
The median sales price in the third quarter (July to September) rose to $1.18 million, an increase of 5.8% year-on-year. In the luxury goods market, selling prices rose 2.8%. And in fact, inventory in the luxury market fell by 16% from October 2024 to October 2025, indicating that there is no flood of New Yorkers selling their homes and leaving the city.
“Median prices rose 5.8% because sales are growing faster than supply. When sales are growing faster than inventory, prices generally rise,” Miller said. “So if people are fleeing cities, prices are going to go down.”
The increase in sales can be attributed primarily to a rise in the overall stock market, Wall Street expectations for large bonuses, and lower mortgage interest rates.
For the week ending Nov. 20, conventional 30-year mortgage rates averaged 6.2%, down from 6.8% at the same time last year, according to Freddie Mac data.
“I focus on evidence-based data, not anecdotes, because the plural of anecdote is not data, it’s just anecdote,” he said, describing the Escape from New York plotline as a “false narrative.”
Mr. Trump, a second-generation real estate developer who owns several properties in New York, has been critical of Mr. Mamdani for months, but appeared keen to maintain ties with the Big Apple after meeting with the young politician at the White House on November 21.
During their joint appearance in the Oval Office, President Trump was asked by a reporter whether Mandani would be comfortable living in New York.
“Yes, I will, especially after the meeting,” Trump said. “We agree on more things than I thought. I want him to do a great job and we will help him do a great job.”
The wealthiest New Yorkers are much less likely to immigrate than working and middle-class New Yorkers.
The data also supports the conclusions of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s 2023 report, which found that in a normal non-pandemic year, the wealthiest New Yorkers are far less likely to move out of New York than working- and middle-class New Yorkers.
Most of the high-income migration during the coronavirus pandemic was not for tax-related reasons, but rather by city dwellers who wanted more space and the ability to work from home.
In fact, the report found that in a typical year, high-income New Yorkers move out of the state at a rate of one-quarter of the remaining population.
And when high-income New Yorkers move, they are likely to move to other relatively high-tax states, such as New Jersey or Connecticut.
Ann Cutbill Renan, an agent at Douglas Elliman who specializes in the luxury market, said discussions about possible tax increases are popping up everywhere.
“They’re talking about it, but they’re not saying, ‘Oh my God, I’m not signing this deal,'” said Mr. Renan, who has 40 years of experience in Manhattan and $2 billion in sales.
President Trump’s tariffs are a bigger factor in New York City’s buyer hesitation
Renan said he’s seen larger buyers balking because they’re concerned that President Trump’s tariffs will increase construction and renovation costs, since raw materials such as wood are often imported.
“What we are struggling with is that because of the tariffs, we have apartments that need work, but we don’t really know how much it will cost to renovate them,” she says. “They’re also worried about deadlines, and I feel that’s the biggest challenge.”
Matthew Bizarro, who has more than 23 years of experience selling homes in New York City, echoed Renan’s concerns about tariffs.
He said he lost five contracts in the week that President Trump announced global tariffs on all imports in April, citing market uncertainty.
Have you ever had a contract fail during an election period?
“Zero,” he said.
Bizarro said he’s seen great exodus before, but not this one.
He ended up opening an office in Westchester County as people began to seek out encampments from cities due to COVID-19.
“At one point, during the coronavirus, we had 100 listings where people were like, ‘Just sell it,’” he said.
Nothing like that is happening now.
“Currently, we have 74 contracts,” he said. The contract amount from November 1st to November 15th increased by 32% compared to the same period last year.
Among those who may be on the sidelines are investors who buy buildings with five to 10 units, he said.
“People who buy apartments want to know whether there will be a rent freeze,” he said, referring to Mamdani’s campaign promise to freeze rents for rent-stabilized apartments. “No one will buy a building if it doesn’t make money.”
Concerns about increased crime and possible loss of services
Jacob Goldman, a Manhattan-based real estate agent, said he has received several calls from people concerned about Mamdani and thinking of selling.
“But only a few people have done it. There is no mass exodus at the moment,” he said. “What will be interesting to see is how people react to his economic policies. I think it’s safe to assume he’s not attracting businesses to New York.”
Josie Lee, 59, the owner of a one-bedroom home on the Lower East Side, said Mamdani’s election was one of many factors that influenced her apartment listings this summer.
She signed a contract on a 750-square-foot apartment shortly after the election. The buyer is a New Yorker in his 30s.
Lee, who works in marketing and communications, said she is nearing retirement and is considering moving somewhere with more greenery and more living space.
But Mamdani’s victory in the primaries persuaded him to speed up the process.
She said she was concerned about the potential for an increase in crime, especially given Mamdani’s past statements about defunding the police. She said she fears businesses will relocate, eroding the tax base and putting a burden on city residents.
“If we keep doing that to the city’s tax base, we’re going to run out of money,” she said. “This creates a cycle of, “We don’t have enough money, so let’s cut back on services.”
Lee has now moved to Fishkill, a small city on the Hudson River about 90 minutes north of Manhattan.
She said she can still easily go into town to see shows, visit museums and meet friends.
New York is ‘resilient’: Demigration is a ‘lot of talk’
Jill Prink, an urban landscape designer who has lived in Manhattan for 25 years, plans to close on her first New York City apartment in the coming weeks.
He said the selection of a new mayor did not factor into his decision, adding that New York and New Yorkers are “resilient.”
Prink said she was excited to move into her one-bedroom apartment after renovating it.
As for rumors about people considering emigration, she says she is not convinced.
“I think this is a lot of conversation,” she said. “It’s very diverse and cosmopolitan, with people coming and living here from all over the world. There are people who don’t want to live here, and there are people who want to be in the city.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
