Manhattan luxury real estate sales held firm after New York passed a second-home tax. Brokers confirmed rich people still bought penthouses. Analysts expressed shock that millionaires did not suddenly become poor.
The tax passed a month ago. Everyone predicted a collapse. The collapse did not happen. Turns out when you have f*ck-you money, a tax is just another line item between the private jet fuel and the caviar budget.
Brokers said sales remain strong. This translates to: wealthy people continue exchanging eight-figure sums for apartments they'll visit twice a year. The tax changed nothing. Rich people do not read tax policy. They have assistants who have assistants who forward that shit to accountants.
The "Mamdani effect" was supposed to crater the market. Did not happen. Nobody knows what the Mamdani effect actually means. Sounds important though. Brokers threw the term around like it was a real thing. It was not a real thing.
Luxury real estate operates in a different economy. You worry about interest rates. They worry about which helicopter to take to the Hamptons. You check your Robinhood account and cry. They buy a third bathroom for guests they hate.
A second-home tax in Manhattan affects people who already own first homes worth more than your entire family will earn in three generations. These are not the people who panic-sell because Albany added a fee. These are people who lose more money in their couch cushions than you made last year.
Sales held firm because nothing ever changes at the top. The tax was noise. The fear was noise. Your opinion about luxury real estate is noise. The market doesn't care that you think rich people should suffer. Rich people are buying marble countertops while you're reading this, and they'll keep buying them long after you've given up and moved to Cleveland.
Photo by Pedro Farto on Unsplash
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