Brooklyn Real Estate Market Report
Brooklyn Quarterly Report
Sales Report | Q2 2026
Second Quarter 2026: Fewer Closings, Record Prices, and the Strongest Contract Momentum in Four Years
1,207 contracts signed. Median and average prices hit all-time highs. Days on market fell to the shortest second-quarter average in a decade.
Q2 2026 at a Glance
Brooklyn's second quarter of 2026 produced a result that looks contradictory until you understand what is actually happening. Closed sales fell 11% year over year to 1,156, the second-lowest second-quarter figure in thirteen years. At the same time, signed contracts rose 15% year over year to 1,207, the strongest annual gain in more than four years. Median and average prices both rose 11% to new all-time highs. Average price per square foot climbed 8% to a record $1,185. Days on market fell 15% to 72 days, the fastest second-quarter pace in a decade.
These numbers are not in conflict. They are describing the same market from two different vantage points. Closings are a trailing indicator, reflecting deals made months earlier under different conditions. Contracts are what is happening now. The contract data says Brooklyn buyers are back. The closing data reflects a period when they were not.
Why Closings Fell and Why It Matters Less Than It Looks
The 11% annual decline in closings is real but requires unpacking. Strip out co-ops, which have been the softest segment of the borough for much of the past two years, and sales were down just 2% year over year. The weakness is concentrated at the lower end of the market, where rate sensitivity is highest and where new development inventory has essentially dried up. New development reached its lowest second-quarter listing count in more than ten years. You cannot close on inventory that does not exist.
The over-$1M segment is a different story. Inventory above $1M actually fell 5% year over year even as overall supply grew, creating meaningful scarcity in the tier that represents more than 40% of sales. Buyers competing above $1M in Brooklyn right now are not finding more to choose from. They are finding less.
Dollar volume tells the tale most clearly. Closed dollar volume fell just 1% year over year to $1.374 billion, even as transaction count fell 11%. Fewer deals at higher prices produced nearly the same revenue as more deals at lower prices. The borough is not losing value. It is concentrating it.
Contract Activity: The Strongest Signal in Four Years
1,207 signed contracts in the second quarter, up 15% year over year. That is the most significant data point in this report. Signed contracts are the most current indicator of market direction, and the direction is unambiguous. Buyer engagement is strengthening. Properties that are priced correctly are not sitting. Days on market of 72 days is the shortest second-quarter average in a decade, down 15% from last year. The $750K to $1M segment moved fastest of all, averaging just 49 days. Buyers in that range are not deliberating. They know what they are walking into.
Record Prices Across Every Metric That Matters
Both median and average price reached new all-time highs in the second quarter, rising 11% year over year to $895K and $1.188M respectively. Average price per square foot hit $1,185, also a record, driven by a greater concentration of sales above $2,000 per square foot.
The resale condo market posted particularly strong numbers. Median resale condo price rose 15% to $1.150M, and average price per square foot climbed 5% to $1,217, both new records. The 2BR resale condo median rose 15% to $1.288M. New development pricing strengthened as well, with median prices up 7% to $1.275M and average price per square foot up 7% to $1,444, fueled by strong sales above $2M in Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn, and Dumbo.
The one notable exception is resale co-ops, where median price dipped 1% to $475K, pulled down by a slightly greater share of sales in the under-$350K range, particularly in South Brooklyn. The co-op market's pricing softness is real and geographically specific. It is not a signal about the health of the broader Brooklyn market.
Inventory: Growing, But Not Where Buyers Are Looking
Active listings rose 8% year over year to 2,003, the highest second-quarter count since early 2022. That sounds like good news for buyers. The composition tells a more complicated story. The growth was driven entirely by resale co-ops, up 17%, and resale condos, up 15%. New development inventory fell 18% annually. Inventory above $2M declined 17%. Listings under $350K surged 37%.
What this means in practice: there is more to buy in Brooklyn right now if you are looking below $500K. There is meaningfully less to buy if you are looking above $1M, and even less if you are looking for new construction. The inventory picture that matters for the buyer profile that defines the core Brownstone Brooklyn market is one of continued scarcity.
The supply dynamics vary sharply by submarket. Park Slope and Gowanus inventory fell 22% year over year to the second-lowest second-quarter level in at least a decade, with all product types declining and new development listings nearly cut in half. Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, and Red Hook saw similar inventory constraints driven by a pullback in new development. On the other end, South Brooklyn inventory hit a second-quarter record at 772 units, not because buyers want more of it but because demand has softened and listings are accumulating.
The Neighborhoods
Park Slope and Gowanus posted 101 closings, down 11% year over year, but the pricing tells the real story. Median price rose 20% to $1.543M. Resale condo median price rose 33% to $1.560M. Average price per square foot came in at $1,404, up 5%. Days on market fell to 48, the shortest of any Brooklyn submarket and one of the fastest paces on record. Inventory of 97 active listings is at the second-lowest second-quarter level in at least a decade. Park Slope is not slow. It is supply-constrained, and the buyers who do find something worth buying are competing aggressively for it.
Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Prospect Heights was the quarter's clearest breakout submarket. Sales rose 34% year over year to 155 closings, the strongest annual gain in the borough. Days on market fell 25% to just 47 days. Median price rose 5% to $1.10M. Resale co-op average price per square foot rose 23% to $1,196. Inventory fell 7% annually to 135 listings. The demand that has been building in this submarket for months translated into real closed activity in the second quarter.
Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Dumbo, and Downtown recorded 152 closings, down 17% year over year, but median price surged 23% to $1.661M, the highest in the borough among core Brownstone neighborhoods. Resale condo median price rose 13% to $1.850M. New development median reached $2.400M, up 18%. The sales decline here is an inventory story, not a demand story. What comes to market in this submarket gets bought at premium prices.
Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, and Red Hook posted 67 closings, down 17% year over year, with inventory falling 15% to just 101 active listings. Median price rose 15% to $1.675M. Resale condo median price rose 31% to $1.700M. Days on market fell to 59. The pattern in Carroll Gardens is consistent across every quarter: thin inventory, fast-moving properties, and prices that reflect the scarcity. A buyer who finds what they want in this submarket needs to be prepared to act.
Williamsburg and Greenpoint recorded 144 closings, down 14% year over year, with median price up 8% to $1.510M. New development median reached $2.118M, up 51%, driven by strong luxury activity in a submarket that has continued to attract well-capitalized buyers. Average price per square foot of $1,703 is the highest in Brooklyn. Days on market were 62, well below the borough average.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Lefferts Gardens, and Bushwick posted 127 closings, up 29% year over year, the second-strongest annual gain in the borough. Median price rose 4% to $800K. Average price per square foot was flat at $925. This is where the most transaction activity is happening at prices accessible to a broader buyer pool. Sales volumes are up because buyers who have been priced out of the core neighborhoods are finding genuine value here, and competition for well-priced condos is real.
Kensington, Windsor Terrace, Ditmas Park, Flatbush, and Prospect Park South saw closings fall 40% year over year to 67, the sharpest annual decline of any submarket. Inventory rose 24%. Days on market climbed to 88, the second-longest in the borough. Median price rose a modest 3% to $625K. This submarket is where the rate-sensitive, sub-$1M buyer pool has pulled back most visibly. Supply is building because demand has softened and listings are not clearing.
South Brooklyn recorded 343 closings, down 19% year over year. Inventory reached a second-quarter record at 772 units. Median price rose 7% to $465K. Days on market of 100 is the longest in the borough. South Brooklyn continues to be the clearest example of what happens when supply outpaces demand: listings accumulate, marketing times lengthen, and prices move only modestly despite significant inventory.
What the Second Quarter Actually Means
The closing number and the contract number are pointing in different directions, and that is not a contradiction. It is the market showing you where it has been and where it is going.
Where it has been: a period of elevated rates, constrained new development, and buyers holding back. That produced the closing declines that defined most of the past two years.
Where it is going: the contract surge, the record prices, the compressed days on market, and the 34% sales gain in Fort Greene all point toward a market that is regaining momentum. Buyers who sat out are coming back. Properties priced correctly are moving faster than at any point in the past decade. The gap between what sellers want and what the market will pay has narrowed in the core neighborhoods.
For sellers in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Cobble Hill: the second quarter reinforced what the monthly data had been suggesting all year. Supply is tight, demand is real, and prices are at or near record levels. The sellers generating multiple offers and strong prices are the ones who listed at the market, not above it. The listings accumulating days on market are not waiting for conditions to improve. Conditions have improved. They are waiting for a price correction.
For buyers: the window that existed when rates first moved higher is narrowing. Days on market are at decade lows in the submarkets that matter most. Competition above $1M is intensifying with less inventory to absorb it. A buyer who is prepared to act, with financing confirmed, an attorney engaged, and a clear sense of their criteria, is positioned to compete. A buyer who is still getting ready is going to keep watching deals close without them.
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