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December 15, 2008

Condo of the Day: 403 Pacific Street

403-Pacific-Street-1208.jpg
We'll give the developer points for keeping the original floor boards and the fireplace in this townhouse condo conversion at 403 Pacific Street in Boerum Hill; we're less enthusiastic about the new closet doors and the somewhat awkward placement of the kitchen. The second-floor unit, a 700-square-foot two-bedroom, is asking $579,000, down from its April debut price of $669,000. Getting close?
403 Pacific Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark




Posted by Brownstoner at 12:39 PM | Comments (23)
Categories: Boerum Hill, Condos

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Comments

That kitchen layout, especially the sink placement, is bizarre!

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 15, 2008 12:43 PM

Spoke to the owner/developer of this unit Saturday night. He has an accepted offer and expects to close this week.

Posted by: Brooklyn Chicken at December 15, 2008 12:47 PM

Wow, that was fast! And here I was ready to rag on the price tag. Good luck to the buyer, tho it still seems mighty steep for 700 sq ft, when forecasters claim the bottom of the housing market may not be reached until 2010.

Posted by: househunt at December 15, 2008 12:50 PM

Brooklyn Chicken, did you get a sense of how much the offer was for?

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 15, 2008 12:50 PM

Was there money put in escrow to get rid of the blue stairs and door casings??

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 15, 2008 12:57 PM

househunt--i recently sold a similarly sized apartment in Clinton Hill for slightly more than this ask so while we may not have reached a bottom yet there are people willing to buy at these prices, which would have seemed very reasonable six months ago. At this price range there is less "risk" in that the potential loss of equity is much lower.

Posted by: wasder at December 15, 2008 12:58 PM

What you write makes a great deal of sense, wasder, and congrats on selling your property. For prospective buyers, however, they're looking for the real metric here. As others have written on this blog before, if the stock market has fallen to 1995 rates (just for the sake of argument) then shouldn't the housing market be measured not by the height of the bubble but by some standard of what things were going for before the insanity settled in? Remember the stock market is forward looking for it should recover first and the commercial real estate meltdown has only begun.

Posted by: househunt at December 15, 2008 1:09 PM

I didn't ask, Biff. The buyer keeps changing the closing date, so maybe there's still an opportunity for you, househunt.

I've also seen the units (there's another one on the top floor). The kitchen isn't as cramped as it seems, but it sits oddly in the space, IMO. The big doors that you can see in the interior shot house a washer and dryer.

The block is great. The developer lives in the downstairs duplex and is friendly. This condo has a lot going for it.

Posted by: Brooklyn Chicken at December 15, 2008 1:14 PM

Can anyone explain what would merit this getting over half a mill? For the life of me the only thing I can see that are nice are the floors and the exterior of the building.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at December 15, 2008 1:14 PM

househunt--has the stock market fallen that low? I have no idea what the Dow was at in 1995 but hadn't heard that it was that low now (or are you speculating that this might happen?). Anyway, I don't exactly understand how the financial markets and the housing market work in relation to each other but it is hard to imagine an apartment like this being much less than 500 anyway. Famous last words I suppose...

Posted by: wasder at December 15, 2008 1:17 PM

What warrants this apartment at around its asking price is that it's a two bedroom in boerum hill. While I generally agree that Brookyln real estate is overpriced, this apartment is priced entirely within the market rate of the neighborhood (albiet one that is dropping). Townhouselady - can you point to a single two bedroom in the area that costs substantially less?

Posted by: McFly at December 15, 2008 1:24 PM

Needs more floorplan!

Also, I have a hard time believing that 700 sq. feet can comfortably house two bedrooms. That seems 1BR-sized to me. Hard to tell without a visit or a floorplan, though.

Posted by: cwbuecheler at December 15, 2008 1:35 PM

Wasder, why would you think there less risk of loss of equity in a more moderate price range?
I would think it's the same risk on a relative basis. In other words if you buy a $500K place and its value plummets to $400K, that's the same percent decline as a $1M place going to $800K.
Some say the risk is greater in the less expensive places because they are more likely to see greater declines if market really collapses.

Posted by: ontheparkway at December 15, 2008 1:35 PM

Less expensive places are always less risk. If everything goes to hell, you will have an easier time renting a 1 or 2 bedroom than a full SFR brownstone. There are still a ton of creative types that are moving to NYC regardless of the financial turmol.

Posted by: Adam Dahill at December 15, 2008 3:09 PM

Also agree that you need to put a floor plan in on EVERY LISTING.

I don't get some of these realtors. I'm all for them making money, it's a hard job... just do it right and give me my damn floorplan.

Posted by: Adam Dahill at December 15, 2008 3:11 PM

ontheparkway--of course percentage-wise you are right but in psychological and practical terms you just can't lose as much with this apt as you can with a whole house in a similar neighborhood.

Posted by: wasder at December 15, 2008 3:17 PM

you may be right, adam dahill, but any evidence to support your contention?
I've heard many many people say the oppposite, that percentage price drops are likely to be much more severe at the lower end of the price spectrum.
That's because stable-income families who are thinkign about buying a costly bigger apartment or brownstone may be more likely to think long term and buy . . .
but the 20 and 30-something singles fueling the lower end of the market will likely be afraid of losing their down payment and stay away from ownership.

Posted by: ontheparkway at December 15, 2008 3:45 PM

people still do not seem to realize that the NYC housing market has BARELY begun to feel the pain. take AT LEAST a 20% haircut from today and maybe you'll see the bottom. i know we all seem to hope that Bberg will save the city's finances but there is absolutely no way out of a city-wide financial catastrophe. sorry to break it to you all.

Posted by: martis at December 15, 2008 4:09 PM

It's awesome how everyday on B-stoner someone breaks the news that real estate prices will be dropping. It's even better when they give the exact % of reduction we can expect and about when we'll hit bottom.

I know I base my financial plans on this constant stream of conjecture-presented-as-fact and I'm sure others do as well...I'm glad these people are around to enlighten the masses.

Posted by: squaredrive at December 15, 2008 4:45 PM

Agree with ontheparkway. I think the smaller 1/2 BR places (and especially studios) are likely to feel the most pain in a downturn. It is inescapable that the financial industry is going to be substantially smaller over the next few years than it has in the past, so there is one large group of buyers who are (1) selling to move to other places and (2) not being replenished with the vigor of the past. The downturn in the financial sector will hit all sorts of related businesses (law, advertising, etc.) and will dry up demand from foreigners, all of which will hit the smaller places first. Creative types will keep moving in, but they were not the ones pushing these prices up.

I also think there is significantly more new supply coming on line in the smaller sizes than in a brownstone/large family size.

Posted by: aishling at December 15, 2008 6:13 PM

I've been watching prices at the low end (1BRs) since May and there has been little to no reduction in prices thus far and extremely limited inventory. In my observation reasonably priced places on the 1-2 bedroom side are still selling very quickly. Adam Dahill's point is well taken - people at the low end will rent to cover costs in the short run rather than sell at a large % loss. There is much more demand to rent 1-2BRs than entire brownstones.

Only 35ish% of NYers own, and if you start seeing 2 BRs in Brownstone Brooklyn for $300-400K i think many, many, many, people will want to jump in.(including plenty I know) But hey, that's just conjecture.

Posted by: squaredrive at December 15, 2008 6:45 PM

Squaredrive - a return to prices at 2004-2005 (or even earlier) levels is a distinct possibility, given the unprecedented run-up of the last few years, and the unprecedented financial meltdown we're living through. The problem with many people jumping in, even at these prices, is lack of ready cash and/or difficulty of selling smaller places. Eventually, the market will pick back up, but many think we're in for several years of decline before the turnaround.

Posted by: Miss Muffett at December 15, 2008 9:13 PM

Sure, definitely a possibility. The people that would jump in that I know of are people who are currently renting and saving. I recognize that is anecdotal.

Watching this board i just get irked at the certainty with which many people express where the market is heading based on their opinion or their friends' opinions, or simply what their interests are.

I think there is a lot more subtlety - i mean think of a hood like prospect heights, which i've watched change greatly over the past 3 years alone. Do prices there go back to levels of 5 years ago when the neighborhood was less desirable? I'm not sure I buy that.

Posted by: squaredrive at December 15, 2008 9:50 PM

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