Investing in residential apartment homes in Manhattan, New York

Posted by Wei Min Tan on August 26, 2025

Investing in residential apartment homes in Manhattan, New York is a strategy for global high net worth individuals to diversify their asset portfolio and to preserve wealth.  Manhattan’s residential housing market has always been resilient, even during economic downtowns.  Specifically, I am referring to residential condominium homes.

For example, during the 2020 COVID pandemic, Manhattan’s residential condominium home prices decreased only 10 percent and only for one quarter.  The market recovered the next year (in 2021) to the highest sales volume ever recorded.

Read about Wei Min’s style in Best Manhattan property agents and Role of a buyer’s broker.

At a high level, Manhattan’s residential housing market comprises rental apartment buildings, co-ops and condos.  Only Co-ops and Condos allow purchasing a single apartment unit (as opposed to needing to buy the entire building).

Rental Apartment Buildings in Manhattan

Rental apartment buildings make up 70 percent of residential housing in Manhattan’s housing market.  These can be small buildings that are 4-5 storeys or large 50 storey buildings owned by REITs with hundreds of units.  The investor owns the entire building, and one cannot buy an individual apartment in such buildings.

The owner is responsible for the entire structure – the roof, facade, mechanicals etc – and they are very management intensive. While to the lay person these are still residential homes, from a real estate perspective this is considered commercial real estate.

Co-op Apartments in Manhattan

Co-ops, short for cooperative apartments, make up 20 percent of residential housing inventory.  Buyers purchase shares in a corporation that owns the building.  This gives the right to live in a specific apartment indefinitely.  Co-ops are 50 percent cheaper than condominiums because they come with stricter rules.  The co-op board must approve each transaction, renting out is either prohibited or very limited, and renovations require permission.  This is because someone who owns a co-op is technically a long term tenant with a proprietary lease.  Given the restrictions on renting out, buyers of co-ops are local New Yorkers buying to live in the unit, not investors who intend to rent out.

Read Weimin’s article, What it takes to be a top investment property agent in Manhattan

Condo Apartments in Manhattan

Condominiums are the cream of residential homes in Manhattan and comprise 10 percent of residential housing inventory.  A condo is an apartment unit that can be purchased, similar to a co-op.  Owners of a condo can buy, sell and rent without restrictions.  This makes a condo the most expensive on a cost per square foot basis, double that of a co-op.

Global investors investing in Manhattan residential homes buy condos because of the simplicity and flexibility of the ownership structure.  The quality of a condo is also higher, in terms of finishings, appliances, flooring, bathrooms etc.

Investing in residential condominium apartments in Manhattan, New York is what many global high net worth investors do.  This category is our specialty when representing investor buyers.

Deal example:  Represented client in purchasing and eventually renting out this 2 bedroom apartment at high-end condo building 111 Murray Street in Tribeca.  

What We Do

We focus on global investors buying Manhattan condos for portfolio diversification and long term return-on-investment.
1) Identify the right buy based on objectives
2) Manage the buy process
3) Rent out the property
4) Manage tenants
5) Market the property at the eventual sale