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Philip House 141 East 88th street, #7A | https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/carnegie-hill/philip-house-141-east-88th-street/50364/7A/iFjLbNSXagQiV  Philip House 141 East 88th street, #7A | https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/carnegie-hill/philip-house-141-east-88th-street/50364/7A/iFjLbNSXagQiV
In Q4 2025, co-op listings are lingering on the market for significantly less time than they were just a year ago: year over year, co-op listings in New York City have seen a 20% decrease in average days spent on the market. Yet, for sellers who are generally anxious to turn around their properties as quickly as possible, even the current 106-day average can feel far too long to wait. One sure way to attract more potential buyers and close a deal under the current average number of days is to list your property under market rate from the start. But is this a strategic move for sellers or their co-op communities?

In this article:

520 Park Avenue
520 Park Avenue Park/Fifth Ave. to 79th St.
930 Fifth Avenue
930 Fifth Avenue Park/Fifth Ave. to 79th St.
The Clare, 301 East 61st Street
The Clare, 301 East 61st Street Lenox Hill
432 Park Avenue
432 Park Avenue Midtown East
211 East 51st Street
211 East 51st Street Midtown East

The Benefits of Listing Your Property Under Market Rate

While it may seem counter-intuitive, there can be distinct advantages to listing a property slightly under market rate. While it is a decision that should only be made in consultation with an experienced real estate professional who understands the dynamics of New York City’s residential real estate market, under some circumstances, a highly competitive listing price may even pay back. Key benefits include the potential to:

1. Attract More Potential Buyers

Everyone loves a bargain, and if your unit is just slightly below market rate for the neighborhood or building, potential buyers will take notice. If you undercut the price too steeply, however, you may risk creating a false red flag and push potential buyers away. For this reason, it is important to keep any slight price cuts modest enough to attract more buyers but not so steep that the deal looks too good to be true.

2. Close More Quickly

A competitively priced unit is not only likely to attract more potential buyers but to result in a serious offer more quickly. If a potential buyer is worried that someone else might swoop in and bid on the unit due to its competitive pricing, the time from listing to close may even be shorter.

3. Potential to Generate a Bidding War

While there is no guarantee, in some cases, pricing a unit slightly under market rate can attract multiple bids, enough to create a bidding war. If this happens, the seller may not only end up selling their property at market rate but even over market rate.

4. Reduced Risk of Creating a Stale Listing

In the current market where co-ops units are lingering on the market for over three months and most condos and townhouses are lingering on the market even longer, competitive pricing is also one way to avoid ending up with a stale listing—that is, a listing that remains on the market well beyond the current average.


The Risks of Listing Your Property Under Market Rate

While there is no doubt that under-cutting one’s listing price can be advantageous, there are notable risks that may not only impact sellers but also their co-op or condo communities. The most common risks include:

1. Low Return on Investment

Unless speed to sale is more important than any other factor (e.g., in some cases, this may be true in an estate sale), if you list a property under market rate, there is always a notable risk that you’ll be cheating yourself out of a strong return on your initial investment.

2. Weaker Bargaining Position

If you list a property below the market rate, buyers and their representatives will assume you’re highly motivated to sell and may, as a result, also attempt to further erode the price on the property or ask for additional contingencies (read more about contingencies here).

3. Appraisal Issues

In some cases, a listing under market rate will lead to a bidding war, which drives the price back up to market rate or even pushes it over market rate. If this happens, it should be good news, but it can backfire. If the buyer’s mortgage appraisal uses the original listing price as a factor, and subsequently appraises the property at the original price, this may either push the closing price back down or, worse yet, kill the deal. Remember that most offers will include an appraisal contingency.

4. Lower the Value of Other Units in the Building

While there are many factors that impact the value of a unit, in a co-op and condo, the value of one unit will impact the value of other units in the building. If one shareholder or owner lists their unit well below market rate because they are highly motivated to sell, it may inadvertently lower the value of other units in the building. As a result, this strategy can also create tensions with one’s co-op or condo board. If one’s unit doesn’t sell, the earlier under-market-rate listing may also impact the ability to relist the unit at market rate later.
Philip House 141 East 88th street, #7A Philip House 141 East 88th Street (Compass)

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that while listing a unit under market value can be strategic, it is also risky, and nearly always tends to work better in a market already favoring sellers versus buyers.

In a seller’s market, listing a property 1-5 percent below market rate can generate a bidding war and lead to a fast turnaround and even higher return. In a buyer’s market, this strategy may further erode the value of one’s property and even negatively impact the value of units in one’s building.

Select listings priced to sell for a loss

While Manhattan real estate is widely viewed as a resilient long-term investment, a small subset of sellers are currently listing their homes below their prior purchase price. Of nearly 6,000 active sale listings across Manhattan, fewer than 400 are asking less than what they last sold for, often due to financial pressures, rising carrying costs (such as in land lease buildings) strategic exits, overpaying at peak pricing between 2014 and 2017, or owning in buildings or neighborhoods that have not fully rebounded from pandemic-era shifts.

Certain segments, including some Trump-branded properties and more generic or dated new development units, have seen sharper pullbacks, while Brooklyn has very few underwater listings amid strong long-term appreciation. For buyers, these rare discounts may present opportunity in a high-rate, slower market, particularly in well-run buildings with strong fundamentals that remain best positioned for long-term value retention.


155 East 49th Street, #2B (Compass)
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Contributing Writer Cait Etherington Cait Etherington has over twenty years of experience working as a journalist and communications consultant. Her articles and reviews have been published in newspapers and magazines across the United States and internationally. An experienced financial writer, Cait is committed to exposing the human side of stories about contemporary business, banking and workplace relations. She also enjoys writing about trends, lifestyles and real estate in New York City where she lives with her family in a cozy apartment on the twentieth floor of a Manhattan high rise.