How to find real comps for your NYC apartment
Most NYC valuations lean on whatever is nearby. A step-by-step method for picking comparable sales that actually reflect your apartment, and the adjustments that matter.
Updated Aug 18, 2026 · 6 min read
A comp is not "a nearby apartment that sold". It is evidence about your apartment, and it is only as good as its similarity. Most casual NYC valuations go wrong in the same way: they take whatever sold close by, average it, and call the result a number. Here is a method that holds up.
Start with the strongest evidence
Comps form a hierarchy. Always exhaust the top before dropping down, because each step down adds an adjustment you have to guess at.
| Rank | Comp | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Same line, same building | Identical layout and exposure. Only floor and condition differ. |
| 2 | Same building, similar size | Shared amenities, taxes, and financials. Layout differs. |
| 3 | Same block or immediate vicinity | Same micro-location. Building quality now differs too. |
| 4 | Same neighborhood, matched attributes | Weakest. Requires the most adjustment. |
Filter before you average
- Recorded sales, not asking prices. An ask is an opinion. Our data shows most listings do not sell at their first ask - see asking price versus sale price.
- Arm's-length only. Discard family transfers, LLC restructures, and estate settlements. A $10 deed is not a comp.
- Recent. Prefer the last six to twelve months. Older sales need a market adjustment, which reintroduces guesswork.
- Matched on the things that drive price. Bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and outdoor space, in roughly that order.
The adjustments that actually matter
- Floor. In an elevator building, higher floors carry a premium per floor - modest, but consistent within a line.
- Condition. The single largest unexplained gap between two otherwise identical units. A gut renovation versus original condition can move a price double digits.
- Carrying costs. Two units at the same price are not equivalent if one carries twice the monthly maintenance. Buyers price the total.
- Ownership type. Do not mix condo and co-op comps. They trade at structurally different prices for the same space.
- Light and exposure. Hard to quantify, easy to observe, and routinely worth more than square footage in a small apartment.
Price per square foot, carefully
Price per square foot is a useful normaliser and a poor conclusion. It breaks down across very different unit sizes - a studio and a four-bedroom in the same building will not share a sensible per-foot number - and NYC square footage is frequently approximate. Use it to compare like with like, not to extrapolate.
Sanity-check the answer
Once you have a range, test it. Do the live listings in your building support it, or are they asking far above what recently recorded? Are the comps you chose the ones a skeptical buyer would accept? If your number rests on a single sale, it is a guess with extra steps.
CurbScoop assembles this automatically: it resolves each listing and recorded sale to a building and unit, scores which ones are genuinely comparable to a property you watch, excludes non-arm's-length transfers, and alerts you when a new comp appears. Start with your apartment, or read how to read an ACRIS record first.
Common questions
- What makes a good comp?
- Same building where possible, then same block, matched on bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage, and recorded recently enough to reflect the current market.
- How recent should a comp be?
- Prefer sales from the last six to twelve months. Older sales need a market adjustment, which introduces exactly the guesswork comps are meant to remove.
- Are listing prices comps?
- No. An asking price is what a seller hopes for. A recorded sale is what a buyer paid. Use asks to read current supply and competition, and recorded sales to establish value.