Most people assume luxury buyers in New York City are motivated by status. The bigger the price tag, the better. In practice, the opposite is closer to the truth.

In New York, price does not necessarily indicate value. Two apartments in the same building can trade at materially different prices per square foot depending on timing, sponsor inventory, and resale positioning.

The clients Mukul “Micky” Lalchandani works with – tech founders, finance executives, physicians, and global investors shopping in the $5 million-plus tier – are among the most rigorous buyers in any market. They model exit returns before they fall in love with a view. They want data on absorption rates and price per square foot. And they will walk away from a deal that doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, regardless of how impressive the address sounds.

“Bigger numbers mean bigger problems, potentially,” says Lalchandani, founder and managing broker of Undivided, a boutique NYC residential brokerage. “How I advise my clients is: you buy based on the exit. You’re not buying a home based on your personal taste – you’re buying based on the marketability for a future buyer down the road.”

Lalchandani approaches residential property more like a financial asset than a personal purchase. He tracks resale performance, absorption rates, and supply pipelines in specific buildings before advising clients.

That philosophy shapes everything about how Undivided approaches the current market. Thus far in 2026, inventory above the $4 million threshold has remained historically tight, with cash buyers moving quickly on limited options. The gap between what’s publicly listed and what’s actually available is significant.

Lalchandani spends considerable energy tracking which developers are quietly holding inventory, which buildings are nearing sellout, and when sponsor units are likely to re-enter the market.

“If you’re not on my radar when an off-market opportunity surfaces, I won’t even be able to inform you,” he says. “You may lose the perfect home – one that never even hits Zillow.”

The shift in what luxury buyers are looking for has also been meaningful since COVID. Private outdoor terraces, home-office-ready floor plans, and single-unit elevator landings – properties where the buyer has the entire floor to themselves – have moved from preference to near-requirement for high-end clients. Privacy, both in terms of daily living and in how the transaction itself is handled, has become a defining feature of the market.

Features that increase privacy and flexibility tend to outperform in resale, which is why Lalchandani advises clients to evaluate how the next buyer will view the property before focusing on finishes or decor.

Lalchandani recalls negotiating the sale of a $17 million property overlooking Central Park where the owner refused any press coverage – the transaction doesn’t appear anywhere online. That level of discretion, he says, is now standard at this price point.

For buyers new to the NYC market, particularly those relocating from other cities, Lalchandani steers them away from the neighborhoods they’ve seen on television and toward areas that actually deliver value. A client who arrived convinced they needed to live in SoHo – a largely commercial corridor with limited residential infrastructure – ended up purchasing a penthouse in Gramercy for $7 million, a full million below the asking price, in a brand-new building with a pool, fitness center, and full-time doorman. Four years later, comparable units in the building are trading near $8.6 million.

The discount wasn’t simply negotiation – the building had reached a point in its sales cycle where developers were prioritizing absorption over pricing, a dynamic Lalchandani looks for across new developments.

“There are 900,000 buildings in New York City,” Lalchandani notes. “Two apartments side by side in the same building can sell at very different prices per square foot. Being able to understand those nuances is what separates an asset from a liability.”

In New York, the hardest part isn’t finding an apartment,” Lalchandani says. “It’s knowing which apartment will still make sense five years from now. Most properties look similar today. Their future performance won’t be.

Mukul “Micky” Lalchandani is the founder and managing broker of Undivided, a boutique NYC luxury residential brokerage. Since 2022, Undivided has advised over 130 clients and negotiated more than $5.7 million in buyer savings.

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