Manhattan luxury home sales are booming after Mamdani’s election, predictions of millionaire exodus

In the wake of many rich people Panic of a possible mass exodus From New York’s Millionaires and Billionaires In the wake of the election of Mayor-elect Zahran Mamdani, the opposite is already happening, with buyers of luxury apartments in Manhattan voting with their wallets.

Signed contracts for Manhattan homes costing $4 million or more rose to 176 in November, a 25% increase from the 141 deals in October, according to new data. Data The report indicated that new signed contracts from brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel increased by more than double the overall market rate.

Likewise, Olshan Realty has noticed an uptick in the number of luxury buyers in Manhattan. In its latest form Market reportThe company said the 17 contracts signed in the last week of November for homes in Manhattan worth more than $4 million exceeded the 10-year Thanksgiving week average. Compared to luxury October sales, which totaled 115 properties, November sales increased by more than 31% to 151 properties, according to the company.

New York’s real estate boom contradicts the narrative of just a few months ago, when some of New York’s elite were preparing to pack their bags if the democratic socialist Mamdani became the city’s next mayor. Mamdani has called for increased eviction protections and rent freezes, as well as calls for increased eviction protections and rent freezes. 2% additional income tax For those in the city who earn more than $1 million a year.

Mamdani’s surprise victory in the June primary coincided with some real estate agents in Westchester, the suburb north of the city, reporting an influx of interest in the area, with Zach and Heather Harrison of Team Harrison on compass, Tell Realtor.com They saw a “significant uptick in the number of Manhattanites connecting with suburban properties.”

However, other real estate leaders say the data says otherwise.

“There is no Mamdani influence,” says Donna Olshan, president and founder of Olshan Properties. He said Bloomberg. “The idea that people were fleeing New York was exaggerated. The numbers don’t prove it.”

Why is New York still thriving?

said Jonathan Miller, President and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc luck The trend of wealthy buyers snapping up luxury real estate in New York has been evident all year, in contrast to the only recent account of elites fleeing the city.

“Over the course of 2025 on an annual basis, overall sales are up, prices are up, sales are up faster than inventory, rents are up, leasing activity is up, especially in October and November,” Miller said. “I’m looking at this anecdotal argument, and collecting stories is not data.”

High-income earners have plenty of reasons to come or stay in New York, according to Miller. Wall Street saw Biggest rewards Since 1987 in 2024, after a strong market, it is a trend It is expected to continue This year, another great year on Wall Street is expected to raise pay for investment bankers, traders and wealth management professionals by as much as 25%, according to a November report from compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates.

This is not the first time there have been paranoid concerns about New Yorkers spreading to the suburbs. In the early days of the pandemic, many feared New York would become vacant as the wealthy fled to vacation homes in the suburbs. While many wealthy New Yorkers had already left the city, so had the Five Boroughs Gained about 10,000 millionaires Between 2020 and 2021, according to state data. Manhattan even Gained 17,500 residents In 2022, most of them are immigrants from other neighborhoods.

New York City’s population had been growing gradually for decades until the pandemic, Like the census It shows a recent peak of 8.8 million in 2020, with more recent data showing the city’s population at 8.5 million. The city lost nearly a million people between 1970 and 1980, after which it grew steadily before the Covid shock.

New York City Department of City Planning, Population Division

The city hit a recent low of 8.36 million in 2022, but has recorded two consecutive years of relatively slow growth since then. The New York City Department of City Planning argued in May 2025 that the last two years of growth indicate that losses during the pandemic “were a short-term shock.”

While Miller said he doesn’t know how Mamdani’s future policies will affect the city, he said there is no evidence to suggest a mass exodus of millionaires. “This whole thing is a classic disinformation scenario, where no one is looking at the actual data,” he said.