Archive for Blog
3Q Manhattan Market Report: Sales Increased While Prices Remained Stable
Although co-op sales activity was unchanged, year-over-year sales activity for condos increased by 16.7%. Industry experts attribute this to an increase in foreign activity due to a weak dollar. Additionally, There were 3,106 sales that closed in the third quarter, up 17.2% from 2Q and 16.7% from last year. The average sales price was up [...]
Rent Prices Continue to Climb
The news keeps getting worse for renters (which is why you should contact The Hoch Group to buy!) Rents are up 0.8% this month. Unless you’re in Midtown West, where doorman studios are still comparable to last year’s prices at $2,359/month, you’d better hope you locked in that long-term lease. Two-bedroom non-doorman apartments have jumped [...]
August 2011 Manhattan Contracts Signed Report
The best indicator of where the market stands is in contracts that have recently closed, not properties that are still on the market. August numbers show that discount rates have dropped substantially since last year, while days on the market have increased slightly. The average sales price for August was $1,374,546, down $80,552 from 2Q [...]
Soho House Building For Sale
33 Ninth Avenue, a six-story, 86,000 square foot building in the heart of the meatpacking district, is rumored to have hit the market. The building, which last sold in 2001 for $8.1 million, does not yet have a price tag, but a similarly sized building in the neighborhood recently sold for $70 million. Ho hum. [...]
NY Schools the Big Brother for Bed Bugs
Bed bugs have become more than just pests in Manhattan. They’ve managed to infiltrate even the most upscale properties, leaving New Yorkers sleepless and itchy. It’s always a good idea to check the bed bug registry before you sign a lease or a contract, but now it might mean the difference between whether or not [...]
Forbes Palatial Penthouse List Sports Several of New York’s Own
While the real estate market for the general public still lags, sales of luxury properties have been picking up. Contributing factors include cash on hand, negating the need to jump through lending hoops, and a weakened dollar, attracting foreign buyers. Never one to miss an opportunity to make a list, Forbes has compiled the Palatial [...]
August Gives Renters a 1% Reprieve
It’s the age-old story of supply and demand. With June vacancy rates dropping to an all-time low since Citi Habitats began tracking them 8 years ago, rents skyrocked, up about 10% from last year. But in August renters experienced a reprieve, albeit small. In June, the average rental unit (taking into account concessions) was $3,455/month, [...]
Non-Existant Country Owns Park Avenue Apartment
It’s kind of like in Monopoly, where a shoe or a thimble or a wheel barrow can own a deed on Park Place. Only here in New York, it’s another non-entity, the defunct country of Yugoslavia, that owns a deed on Park Avenue. 19 years after the the country was dissolved, the $20 million, 14-room [...]
Condos Requiring More Paperwork from Potential Buyers
What does this SoHo condo building with million-dollar listings have in common with its more conservative Park Avenue co-op counterpart? Prohibitive paperwork. The well-known bane of the co-op world has finally bled over to condominiums. If you want to buy a condo in New York, lending isn’t the only vetting process you’ll go through. Hopeful [...]
New York Smoking Bans Implemented in Residential Buildings
It started with New York’s state-wide smoking ban in 2003. On May 23 of this year, Bloomberg (an ex-smoker), banned smoking in public parks, beaches and other outdoor areas–including Times Square. If you’re a smoker, that pretty much leaves the privacy of your own home… or does it? As New York apartment dwellers, we’re all [...]