What is a CMA? NYC Real Estate Comps Explained (2025)

You’ve browsed countless NYC apartment listings for sale online. You’ve attended numerous open houses and property tours with your buyer’s agent. And finally you’ve narrowed down your search to your favorite apartments - maybe even your dream place. 

Suddenly, your focus shifts from finding "the one" to figuring out what the right price is for the apartment. At this point, you will begin to discuss real estate comparables, also known as comps, and review CMA’s in order to devise a negotiation strategy when you make an offer.

Real estate comps in NYC are unique as there are many factors to consider. There are more diverse property types in the city compared to neighboring suburbs - condos, co-ops, single-family homes, townhouses, and multi-family homes. Therefore, finding similar properties for comparison is both an art and a science.

There are more high-rise buildings where the floor of the building and views can dramatically affect the value of an apartment. Plus, let’s not forget the range of amenities that new development condo buildings offer owners.

In order to help you prepare for your purchase, below we highlight some of the key terms and topics you’ll need to know when discussing NYC real estate comps with your buyer’s agent.

What is a CMA?

When real estate agents throw around the term "comp" or "comps", they are using industry lingo for a comparable unit or comparable units. 

A comparable market analysis, commonly referred to by the acronym CMA, is a summary of recent sales, pending sales, and current listings in a specific area that most resemble the attributes of an apartment you are interested in buying or selling. 

This CMA report is typically prepared by your real estate agent using data-driven software, and is meant to be an approximation of value based on recent sales and market trends. 

It is important to note that CMA reports are not appraisals, which are used by banks in formally valuing the collateral of your apartment.

What’s included in a comparable market analysis (CMA)?

• Recent sales
• Pending sales 
• Current listings

Understanding price per square foot

When evaluating the value of an asset like real estate, it is important to have metrics that allow you to compare units on an apples to apples basis. In metropolitan markets like NYC, one of the key metrics used price per square foot. 

You can calculate the price per square foot of an apartment or home by dividing the listing price by the number of square feet noted in local property records or building offer plan. This gives you a quick and easy barometer to compare the relative value of your dream apartment with other units in the building or in the neighborhood.

Price per square foot is especially helpful when evaluating NYC condo comps. Co-ops on the other hand are less reliant on this measure. The offering plans of many co-op buildings do not provide square footage data, and therefore square footage is not included on most co-op listings throughout the city.

Recent sales in the same line

The clearest and most relevant unit comparable for any NYC apartment is a recent sale of an apartment in the same line of the building. For example, if you are interested in buying 7B, the recent sale of 5B or 9B would likely be an immediate benchmark to look at for both absolute price paid as well as price per square foot.

In most NYC buildings, the same line has the same floor plan, same approximate square footage, and generally offers comparable views and light. This is especially true in newer condo buildings where the finishings of each apartment in the line are similar and less likely to have gone through dramatic renovations.

Recent sales in the building

Some buildings trade at a premium or discount to other condo or co-op buildings in the neighborhood. The reason for this can vary due to financials of the building, condition of the building, amenities, proximity to public transport, and the list goes on. 

For this reason, recent sales within a building are generally more important than the overall neighborhood averages in estimating value.

Sales trends in the neighborhood

There’s the old adage in real estate - location, location, location. Trends in a local community or neighborhood can affect perceived property value. New development, changes in transportation, changes in office habits, and the arrival or departure of local businesses can all affect the value of properties in a specific area.

As a result, the average prices of different neighborhoods or even different boroughs can vary.

How recent are the comparable sales?

In ordinary times, recent sales in the past six to twelve months provide a fairly accurate picture when assessing market value for a property. However, in more uncertain markets like New York and the United States has witnessed in 2020 during the Covid situation or in 2008 to 2009 during the global financial crisis, more recent comps should be analyzed.

Where can you find NYC real estate comps?

Whether your real estate agent is using a software tool or manually inspecting comps via listing aggregators like StreetEasy, it is important to note that all completed sales in NYC are recorded in the Automated City Registrar System - commonly referred to by the acronym ACRIS. This system includes all of the transactions for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

The perceived value of apartment amenities 

One of the allures of NYC real estate are all of the apartment amenities. Years ago, it was a luxury to have a doorman. Fast forward to today and new developments are offering more building amenities than residents can use in a lifetime.

In most cases, all of the extra features and services a building offers equate to more luxurious pricing. In addition to higher purchase prices though, keep in mind you will be paying higher common charges or maintenance fees too. 

For example, buildings with a doorman or concierge, shared rooftop spaces, or spa-like fitness centers will trade at a premium to similar buildings that are non-doorman or lack shared amenities.

How to adjust for private outdoor space and rooftops

In an ideal world, there will be multiple recent sales of apartments with comparable private outdoor space in the building or neighborhood. If not, there are some easy adjustments you can make to estimate the potential value of that extra space.

First, not all private outdoor space is created equal. The size and views from the outdoor space differ greatly depending on where you are on the outdoor spectrum. A juliet balcony overlooking an internal courtyard will garner less of a premium than a penthouse’s rooftop terrace with sweeping views of the city.

Second, accounting for the value of private outdoor space can seem like a spreadsheet game. A good framework to evaluate an apartment with outdoor space is to look at a sum of the parts valuation of the interior square footage and the exterior square footage. Most experts believe that exterior space justifies 25% to 50% of the price per sqft of the interior square footage with the higher percentage used for larger exterior spaces.

Let’s look at the example of a NYC apartment with 1,000 square feet of interior space and 250 square feet of terrace space in a neighborhood where a comparable unit without a terrace trades for $1,200 per square foot. 

Approximate value of outdoor space - NYC example

• Interior Space:  1,000 sqft x $1,200 per sqft
• Exterior Space: 250 sqft x (25% x $1,200 per sqft)
• Total Space: $1,275,000

How to adjust for the floor of a building

Living on a higher floor in an elevator building typically means you’ll have better views, more natural light, and less city street noise. Due to all of these benefits, the pricing of similar units in the same line of a building will gradually increase as the floor you are on increases. Once you are beyond the first several floors of a building, a good rule of thumb is that price will increase by approx 1% per floor for comparable units.

The reverse is true for living on a higher floor in walk-up buildings. Without an elevator, the perceived value goes down for every floor you’ll have to walk up. Additionally, walk up buildings reduce the number of New Yorkers that can potentially buy your apartment on re-sale.

Adjustments for renovations

In older NYC buildings, you are more likely to see a bigger variance in the degree to which apartments have been renovated by previous owners. You may visit a couple units for sale in the same building. One unit may need a gut renovation, while the other may have been modernized with state of the art everything.

A safe way to adjust for the value of renovations is to first determine what an average, well-maintained apartment should be priced at based on the comps. Then add value for the items which have been renovated, or subtract value for the items that require serious updating.

It is important to keep in mind, when adjusting for the value of renovations, use estimates for what a reasonable renovation of a kitchen, bathroom, or flooring would cost. Just because the previous owner overpaid for a luxurious renovation, does not mean you have to.

Negotiate the best price

After all is said and done, analyzing real estate comps only gives you a benchmark of value. Once you have a pulse of what that value range is for the NYC home or apartment, you will be able to make an informed decision and negotiate the best price with your agent.

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