What Conversion Rates Tell You About The Sales Market

With the beginning of every year, any good sales team will look at the past year, forecast the next year, and set sales goals.   We have done that both for our Tri-State Investment Sales team, as well as for our national sales efforts.  

For a broker, the sales funnel starts with a Broker’s Opinion of Value which hopefully leads to a listing and then an ultimate sale.  We have eight years of sales activity in New York City and are happy to report that 2025 was a record year with 63 properties sold across  for a total of $697 million dollars. This was despite the New York City sales market at about two-thirds of the 10 year average of $28.4 billion.  This was also amongst a fair amount of uncertainty around the implications of a new mayor.What we are most encouraged about is that our conversion rate of listings to sales rose to 53%. This was up from 2024’s 46%, and well above the dark days of 2020 when that conversion rate dropped to 30%.  This doesn’t mean that we failed 47% of the time, as often owners elect not to sell or more likely refinance. That being said, there certainly were times when the market was not able to achieve an owner’s sales objectives.Regardless, what does this increase in sales traction and momentum say about the market? Here are some takeaways:

1. Sellers and buyers have become more willing to transact in this market.
2. The capital markets, especially the debt markets, have opened up to allow more sales to happen.
3. That being said, in some cases the inability to refinance at the same loan-to-value may make a sale more likely to occur.
4. Investors are encouraged by leasing activity and rent growth, especially in the office sector.
5. The drop in interest rates (The 10 year treasury is about 60 bps below where 2025 started) have signaled to investors that there could be cap rate compression to boost values.

We could not be more excited going into 2026, with a pipeline of 61 active listings in New York with close to $2 billion in inventory along with 15 deals already in contract to close in 2026 for $289 million in value.  Meanwhile with our national sales efforts, we are working on a range of exciting opportunities ranging from retail in Alexandria, VA to multifamily in Tampa to land in Austin and Dallas.  There will be plenty to keep investors busy this year, which should no doubt boost the conversion rate of listings to sales even higher.