Archive for Manhattan Real Estate
Co-op Sales Manipulated to Appease Boards
The post-Lehman real estate market is giving rise to new and previously rare selling practices. Brick Underground pulled the curtain back on how some co-op sales are recorded at misleadingly high prices to keep boards happy and maintain property values, using “givebacks” to buyers to keep real prices low. It’s estimated that 1 in 10 [...]
Buyers Start Your Engines… Let The Rate Lock Race Begin
Buying a home has always been stressful. You search, sign a contract, put a deposit down and hope for the best. But now, since the Great Recession, it’s a race against the clock to close in 60 days. If you don’t, your bank is going to charge you hundreds of dollars in fees. Consumers make an agreement [...]
3 Triggers for Hudson Yards
This week the MTA board approved a $1 billion deal with Stephen Ross’ Related Companies to develop the West Side/ Hudson rail yards. Before Related needs to close the deal or the MTA can begin collecting rent though, the market needs to hit three benchmarks. The Hudson Yards Triggers 1. Midtown office space availability rates [...]
FUN FACTS – Why Central Park Was Almost Not Central
Here is a fun fact for you, Central Park was not part of the original Commissioner’s Plan of 1811 for the orderly development of land around Manhattan, and if public opinion or administrative decision-making had been slightly different, New York’s largest park may have been on the Upper East Side. By the 1840’s there was [...]
New Charges in the One Madison Park Case
The drama at One Madison Park continued this week. Jonathan Newman, a veteran real estate attorney, has been named interim receiver of One Madison Park while lawsuits between iStar Financial and lead developer Ira Shapiro play out in court. For those of you who don’t know, one Madison Park is the tall skinny glass building [...]
Can A Park Revitalize Governors Island?
Sometimes to move forward you have to look back. In this case, the City is looking at ways to invigorate Governors Island that New York Magazine is calling “radically old-fashioned.” That radical idea? Build a park. Right now the Governors Island shoreline that faces lower Manhattan is lined with Park Service-run fortifications, landmarks and old [...]
Renting in Manhattan: First Quarter 2010
The Prudential Douglas Elliman report on 2010′s first quarter rental market uses phrases like “stability in rental prices” and “uptick in new rental demand” – all of which are early but good signs that things may not be roller coaster for much longer. Though down in year over year numbers, both the median and average [...]
Should You Co-Purchase?
Jill Urban, Real Estate reporter from NY1, did a good profile and interview with a couple who decided to buy their first piece of property as they were getting married. The profile dovetails into a discussion of the current advantages and risks involved in “co-purchasing.” The idea of co-purchasing is more attractive over the past [...]
Manhattan Rental Resilience
Manhattan Real Estate Resilience The Reis first quarter market report characterized New York City’s multi-family housing market activity as a “surprising show of resilience.” According to the Real Deal, effective rents increased 0.9% over the end of 2009 levels. Nationwide effective rents rose 0.3% from last quarter. Reis surveyed 79 metro areas and reported that [...]
Manhattan Real Estate: First Quarter Market Review
Manhattan Real Estate: First Quarter Overview Note: The Q1 market report represents deals that closed in the first quarter of 2010, representing offers that were accepted in late Q3 and early Q4. In many ways the first quarter numbers tell a story of recovery, but we still have a long way to go. First, the good news: the [...]