This City's Property is Worth a Record $1 Trillion

One of the hottest real estate markets in the U.S. could be its own economy—and in fact now dwarfs the size of a few Group of 20 (G20) countries.

In a statement released on Friday, New York City’s Department of Finance said that New York’s tentative property assessment for fiscal year 2017 had crossed $1 trillion for the first time ever. That amount rose $102.5 billion, or 10.6 percent, from the FY 2016 assessment, the department said.

“This year’s tax roll is simply a reflection of New York City’s growing real estate market,” said Jacques Jiha, NYC’s finance commissioner, in a statement. “The roll also reflects significant construction activity, particularly in rental apartments, which accounts for 36 percent of the construction activity in the city.”

For context, that would make the city’s property worth nearly as large as Mexico’s nominal gross domestic product, which in 2014 checked in above $1.2 trillion. By the same measure, NYC’s property values were larger than the economies of South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia—all of which are G20 members.

New York City has one of the most torrid real estate markets in the country. In 2015, the price of a square foot of real estate in Manhattan hit a record, figures from Douglas Elliman showed last October.

The cost of living in the city has remained lofty, even in the face of a weakening global economy, with average rent for a one bedroom apartment exceeding $3000 monthly, according to data from Rent Jungle.

Soaring property values also come at a price, as city homeowners have grappled with higher property tax bills.

Nowhere was the trend of higher property values more pronounced than in Brooklyn, where NYC data showed that rental apartments account for 55 percent of all construction in that borough. Overall market values for single and multi-family homes soared by 12 percent citywide, the city said.