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Lisa Lagace
Updated Sep 25, 2025
Goldman Sachs has likened gold to another rare and sought-after asset: Manhattan real estate.
“You can’t pump gold — but you can bid it out of someone’s hands. Gold doesn’t get used — it changes hands and gets repriced,” Goldman Sachs’ analysts wrote in a recent Sunday note.
And this year, gold’s price has been skyrocketing, recently passing a record high of $3,700.
Like Manhattan real estate, the supply of gold is limited
Manhattan real estate is known for its limited supply, which is why it’s so expensive. Since more people want to live there than there are available homes to live in, it’s a costly market to break into. As of July 2025, RentCafe notes that the average rent in Manhattan is $5,620 for a 695-square-foot apartment. The average price of homes listed for sale is $1.4 million, according to Realtor.com.
Gold is similarly limited in supply. According to Wealth Advisor, almost all the gold ever mined still exists, hidden away in vaults, jewelry boxes and central bank reserves. And since only 1% of new gold is added to the existing 220,000 metric ton supply each year — its power lies not in its consumption, like oil and gas — but in its accumulation, like Manhattan real estate.
“It's market clears through changes in ownership, not production-versus-use balances,” Goldman’s analysts wrote. "The gold price reflects who is more willing to hold it and who's willing to let go."
Supply and demand metrics — like how raising the price of gas could lead to people taking fewer road trips, thus slowing demand — don’t apply to gold, since the supply is always limited.
Conviction vs. opportunistic buyers
The Goldman report also identified two groups of gold buyers — “conviction buyers” like central banks, spectators and ETFs, and “opportunistic buyers,” meaning households in emerging markets.
Since opportunistic buyers only step in when the price is right, they provide a floor under the price of gold during sell-offs, but conviction buyers set the trend.
The Manhattan real estate market shares these two groups of buyers.
"The total number of apartments is largely fixed, and the small amount of new construction each year is not what drives prices,” their analysts wrote. “What matters is the identity of the marginal buyer."
Manhattan conviction buyers are those with deep pockets who want to live there regardless of cost. Manhattan opportunistic buyers are those who will buy only if the price is right — if they can’t find a reasonable deal, they will live in Brooklyn or New Jersey instead.
A good time to invest in gold?
The unique comparison suggests that the current hype around gold isn’t going away anytime soon.
One way to buy gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Goldco.
Gold IRAs allow individuals to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, thereby combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of owning physical gold, making it an attractive option for those seeking to ensure their retirement funds are diversified against economic uncertainties.
With a minimum purchase of $10,000, Goldco offers a 1-day IRA set-up, price match guarantee, highest buy back guarantee, award-winning customer service and access to a library of retirement resources.
Plus, the company will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver.
Lisa Lagace
Associate Editor
Lisa Lagace covers personal finance, real estate, and investing. She is passionate about helping people new to investing learn how to make their money grow.
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