In 1st quarter, New York recorded its smallest apartment delivery volume in nearly a decade. Just 1,216 units were completed in the first three months of 2020, the smallest quarterly new supply volume this market has seen since early 2011. Completion volumes have been fading for five consecutive quarters, after peaking at nearly 4,000 units at the end of 2018. The cycle peak was a little more than a year before that, with 4,600 units finished in 3rd quarter 2017. While New York’s recent supply slowdown started before the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market, look for deliveries to continue at even more restrained levels in the near term, as Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a shutdown of all non-essential construction activity on March 27 to slow the spread of the outbreak, which has hit New York harder than other areas of the country. The only construction activity allowed to continue will be that which is necessary to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers or projects unsafe to remain unfinished.
