Forced by the pandemic to give up their plans, they suddenly have extra money in the best homebuyer market in ten years.
The first Sunday in September would have been Jenna Sood and Nina Woolf’s wedding day, when 100 friends and family would gather at the Brooklyn restaurant where they had their first date.
COVID-19 thwarted plans, so the betrothed turned their attention – and the new money they had at the bank – to a different wedding ritual: buying an apartment. “We may not have this great party. But we have a down payment, ”said Woolf.
New York couples who canceled wedding parties during the pandemic are finding comfort – and opportunity – in real estate. Forced to forgo meeting plans due to social distance rules, they suddenly have extra cash in the top buyers’ market in ten years. Couples reaffirm their commitment by seeking out homes they could not have afforded at other times.
It is a hidden blessing. This helped increase the amount we could give as a down payment and enabled us to buy a better location, ”said Philip Bassis, 34, who canceled a ‘six-digit’ marriage for more than 200 people in the West Village in July.
Bassis, a menswear brand owner, and his now-wife Carly kept their wedding date, but traded the lavish party for an intimate ceremony in Battery Park and a family reception, with proof of COVID, in the roof of her in-laws’ apartment building. With all deposits paid back, they are looking for a one- or two-bedroom loft in Lower Manhattan for less than $ 2 million.
Weddings in the New York metropolitan area plummeted 56% in 2020 to 58,522, the lowest figure in data for the past 12 years, according to Wedding Report, an industry analysis company. Couples who continued with party plans spent significantly less on it: The median cost this year was $ 32,743, also the lowest since 2008.
On the other hand, owning an apartment in New York has become more affordable as the pandemic affects the demand for city life. Nearly 75% of the deals that closed from March 16, when New York enacted the stay-at-home rules through late September, were for less than the seller’s asking price, StreetEasy reported.
That’s not common in New York City, so take your chance. That opportunity passes, ”said John McClave, an agent for the Corcoran Group who works with a couple who have canceled their wedding plans and are looking for a home.