Open Thread


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

  1. By InsertSnappyNameHere on October 20, 2010 12:53 PM

    Actually, ET, the earth is a decagon with flecks of glitter at each point 🙂

    And there will be idiots who applaud her for this viewpoint simply because she didn’t call anyone a name.

  2. October 20, 2010
    Wall Street Journal

    By SHELLY BANJO

    Home prices in Manhattan peaked later and rebounded more quickly than previously reported by other major indices, according to a new index by New York real-estate listings site Streeteasy.com.

    The region’s home prices peaked in June 2006, according to the closely followed S&P/Case-Shiller Metro Area Home Price Index, which often serves as a barometer of the country’s real-estate market.

    In contrast, the StreetEasy Condo Market Index, to be introduced Wednesday, says that Manhattan real-estate market peaked in March 2008. Also in contrast with the Case-Shiller index, the Manhattan market is on the upswing rather than in the midst of a plateau, according to the new index.

    “The Case-Shiller housing Index has little relevance to the Manhattan market as it only includes single-family homes and covers such a wide metro area ranging from Pennsylvania to Connecticut,” says Sofia Song, StreetEasy’s vice president of research.

    In response, backers of the Case-Shiller index say it fulfills its purpose.

    “Manhattan is unlike any other market in the U.S. because of the presence of co-ops and the large number of investor buyers,” says David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv, which publishes the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. “The purpose of the Case-Shiller index is to track entire metro areas.”

    The new index, which will be published monthly, looks specifically at Manhattan and measures repeat condo sales since January 1995. Condo sales made up more than half of closings in Manhattan between January 2006 and last August, says StreetEasy.

    Data for the new index are taken from public records, resulting in a four-month to five-month time lag between when a property enters into contract and the time the transaction closes and its price is recorded. StreetEasy says it’s looking to incorporate more up-to-date listings data in future iterations of the index.

    Home prices in Manhattan reflect levels last seen in June 2005, according to the new StreetEasy index

    The Upper West Side has yielded the greatest rate of return since 1995, holding up better and rebounding faster than other areas, StreetEasy said.

1 36 37 38 39 40 65