Peter Zaitzeff, a broker at Serhant and one of the breakout stars of Netflix's Owning Manhattan, is betting the city’s summer real estate market will heat up. Speaking on NY1's The Rush Hour on Wednesday, he laid out practical advice for buyers at a moment when fresh data and slightly softer mortgage rates are giving some house hunters a chance to jump back in.
Why The Market Could Pick Up
Manhattan just logged its strongest month for signed contracts in three years, with 1,190 contracts in May, up 12% year over year. That surge is a sign the spring rebound may be sliding right into summer, according to the Corcoran Group.
Borrowing costs have inched down a bit too. Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 6.48% for the week ending June 4, a small dip that can help well-qualified buyers a little on affordability, according to Freddie Mac.
Zaitzeff's On-Air Advice
On NY1, Zaitzeff made it clear this is not the season for casual browsing. He urged buyers to come in fully prepped: get financing in place, lock in a realistic budget, and be ready to move quickly when the right apartment hits, he told Spectrum News NY1. In his view, summer is shaping up as a moment when prepared buyers can still win without automatically overpaying.
Practical Summer Checklist
First order of business: get a mortgage pre-approval. That tells you what you can realistically afford and signals to sellers that your offer is serious. Lenders and buyer guides say a pre-approval can strengthen your hand when there are multiple offers on a property, according to NerdWallet.
Once you have an accepted offer, ask lenders about rate-lock options and make sure the lock period comfortably covers your expected closing timeline so you are not sweating last-minute rate jumps. The basics of how rate locks work, and how they help you avoid surprises, are laid out by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
On top of that, budget for inspections and be ready to negotiate on timing and smaller concessions rather than obsessing over the headline price alone. In a busy market, flexibility can be worth real money.
Neighborhoods And Where Activity Is Rising
Corcoran's snapshot shows that the upswing is not limited to one pocket of the island. Midtown and Financial District/Battery Park City each saw contract activity jump nearly 40% year over year, suggesting buyers focused on those areas may run into stiffer competition, according to the Corcoran Group.
At the same time, active listings remain below their recent norms, which means well-priced homes can move quickly once they hit the market.
Bottom Line
Zaitzeff's on-air pointers land with some extra weight. He is a leading new-development broker at Serhant with a long track record on high-profile Manhattan projects, a background detailed in his firm bio, according to SERHANT. For buyers hoping to make a move, his message is pretty simple: get your financing sorted, study your target neighborhoods, and be ready to pounce when the right place finally appears.
