It’s generally perceived that the real estate market speeds up when it gets warmer outside. Sure, I’ve had months in November and December where I’ve rented a good number of apartments or had sales deals come together. But more often than not, these winter months are slow and quiet—which can be nice if I’ve had a good year leading into them. Even March can feel like winter in terms of the slow pace of the market.
This general trend has held true so far in 2026: winter was slow, and now, as the temperature warms up, things are heating up.
In terms of rentals, I had a good number of both residential and commercial listings over the last couple of months. In April, most of them rented—including two commercial spaces. I say “including” because there’s just not as much demand for commercial spaces in NYC as there is for apartments—but commercial spaces should rent if the price is reasonable.
As for specific deals, in April I saw a three-bedroom apartment on the East Side of Williamsburg, near the Graham L stop, finally rent after sitting for all of March. It had been sitting partly because of the winter season and also because I had definitely (and accidentally) overpriced it when the landlord asked what price we should list it at (oops). The price reduction, combined with the busier month, got it rented in a timely manner.
I also had a pair of four-bedroom apartments in Bushwick that finally rented this month. The landlord had recently renovated them, and I had them listed since January. To be honest, there was almost no activity on those apartments for months. But suddenly, as soon as the calendar flipped to April, there was a flurry of showings, and the apartments were rented two weeks later.
A commercial space in Bed-Stuy—about 800 square feet, on a corner, recently renovated—also seems likely to rent in the next few days. After some very slow months (January and February), and even a few weeks with zero showings, there was a sudden burst of clients wanting to view and take the space. We’re supposed to sign the lease this weekend (hopefully it doesn’t fall through!).
On the sales side, it seems like something could be shifting as well. Back in February, I toured two properties with a buyer—one building in Bushwick and one in Bed-Stuy. Both were for sale off-market. I knew each owner from rental conversations over the years, and they mentioned they were open to selling without formally listing. I brought my buyer to both buildings, and they put in strong, fair offers on each. I followed up with the sellers a few times over the past couple of months, but neither seemed ready to move forward.
Now, suddenly, both sets of sellers seem to have put deadlines on themselves to decide whether to keep the buildings or accept an offer. I think there’s a chance I could get a deal done on one of them—but who knows. Deals come and go. Still, it’s encouraging to see interest in selling and decisions about to be made.
Is this recent activity related to the warmer weather? I think, in some ways, yes. I mean, who wants to be out looking at properties when it’s frigid outside? Either way, April was a good month, and I hope the rest of the year continues on a positive trajectory.
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