What Manhattan Recorded Sales Say About Co-ops, Condos, and Small Residential Buildings

The official-record sample

NYC Department of Finance rolling sales data included recorded transactions through August 31, 2026 when accessed on September 29. This analysis selected Manhattan borough code 1, nine broad residential building-class categories, and recorded prices from $100,000 through $100 million. The result was 12,166 records from September 2, 2025 through August 31, 2026.

The filter removes zero and very low nominal transfers, but it does not certify that every remaining record is an arm's-length sale. It also does not adjust for package deals, size, condition, or location.

The broad medians

The included co-op categories produced 5,976 records and a median recorded price of $856,378. The included condo categories produced 5,957 records and a median of $1,799,000. The one-to-three-family dwelling categories produced 233 records and a median of $5,564,257.

Those gaps describe the selected distributions. They do not prove that a condo is worth a fixed premium over a comparable co-op, or that every one-to-three-family record is a townhouse a buyer would recognize from a listing.

Why property form changes the comparison

Co-ops and condos differ in ownership structure, financing flexibility, board control, subletting, closing costs, and the buildings represented in each category. One-to-three-family buildings can differ dramatically in legal use, lot, condition, renovation scope, and neighborhood. A broad median captures all of that mix.

• Compare within property form before comparing across forms.
• Check exact DOF building-class category and recorded documents.
• Use same-building or closely matched sales for apartment pricing.
• For a townhouse search, verify legal occupancy and physical condition address by address.

What the calculation is good for

The analysis is useful for market orientation and for showing why a single Manhattan median can hide very different property populations. It is not an automated valuation model. The downloadable ledger preserves the query, categories, counts, medians, and monthly observations so the calculation can be reproduced and challenged.

Reproduce the calculation before extending it

The downloadable ledger records the dataset identifier, update date, selected fields, borough code, building-class categories, price bounds, counts, and medians. A reviewer can rerun that query against NYC Open Data and calculate the ordinary median of the included sale prices. Reproducibility matters because the result depends directly on the category and price filters.

Changing the rules changes the answer. Including category 17 condo co-ops would enlarge the sample but mix a class that needs separate interpretation. Lowering the price floor would admit more nominal or partial-interest transfers. Restricting the ceiling would remove legitimate high-value transactions along with possible package or unusual sales. Neighborhood or monthly cuts would reduce sample size and increase mix sensitivity.

A stronger next analysis would join carefully reviewed records to additional property characteristics and flag potential non-arm's-length transfers, then publish each exclusion rule. Even then, the result would remain a market study rather than an appraisal. A property decision still needs current comparables, documents, condition, and professional review tied to the exact address.

• Preserve raw source fields and retrieval date.
• Publish every inclusion and exclusion rule.
• Report sample size beside each statistic.
• Do not relabel one-to-three-family records as verified townhouses.

Research note: This article uses broad Manhattan and New York County context. It does not price a specific property or establish a neighborhood, co-op, condo, or townhouse result.

Sources for this explanation: NYC Department of Finance, Citywide Rolling Calendar Sales · Real Estate Board of New York, Research & Reports. Provider dates, geography, definitions, and limitations appear in the dated report and methodology.

By Tracie Golding, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker at Compass. Read Tracie’s profile.