Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'?
The New York Times took a look at Bedford-Stuyvesant this weekend as an area once considered one of the roughest in the city, but one with a rich cultural history where you can now smell gentrification in the air, mainly via the fragrance of higher-end retail. More interesting than the article’s notes on gentrification is…
The New York Times took a look at Bedford-Stuyvesant this weekend as an area once considered one of the roughest in the city, but one with a rich cultural history where you can now smell gentrification in the air, mainly via the fragrance of higher-end retail. More interesting than the article’s notes on gentrification is how it touches on current home values in Bed-Stuy: “‘We’re actually experiencing a little bit of a depression,’ said Tanya Blackwood, owner of Location Location Location, a real estate agency. ‘We’re back to where people are undervaluing houses—it’s just bananas.’ The neighborhood’s size makes it difficult to narrow down a price range for houses, but livable two-families generally start around $600,000, said Keith Mack of the Corcoran Group. A house in great shape, he said, might fetch $875,000. (Houses in the historic district still command a little more, but there are very few listed.) A perusal of Web sites like PropertyShark.com shows houses trading at or below $600,000. ‘I could’ve given you a general price point a year ago,’ said Lakeisha Edwards, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman. ‘But it’s now really property by property; in between those are so many short sales and foreclosures.'” Agree?
History, With Hipper Retailing in Bed-Suy [NY Times]
Photos by nvrlowdown
At least I don’t have to live in some hole in Lodi, NJ.
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The What (Tock…)
Someday this war is gona end..
People…you can buy a whole house in bed Stuy for the price of a one-bedroom condo in many places!!!!!
No, home ownership is not for everyone but these places are soooo cheap. I know it’s difficult for first time home buyers in this market. The whole process of qualifying, not to mention the uncertainty of the appraisal is a big problem here.
Brownstones are not for everyone b ut they only need to be “for” a small aprt of the homeowner population because, as a % of the total housing stock, they are a very small portion indeed.
I think many of them don’t get it, bxgrl.
They also really don’t understand the economics of moving from manhattan to Brooklyn especially if they don’t mind the “inconvenience” of a tenant on the first floor paying practically half of the mortgage.
So anyone who bought in Brooklyn only says how happy they are in order to keep their property values up? It would probably shock you to know that not everyone buys just for investment and that they are actually happy with what they bought. Some people just never get that.
“However, I see you on this site 9-5 telling everyone who’ll listen how happy you are to have the majority of your net worth tied up in Brooklyn real estate. If you weren’t so deeply invested in Brooklyn real estate, and were all cash, would you purchase right now?”
If you see me on this site 9-5 then you’d know that the majority of my net worth is not tied up in Brooklyn real estate. With a 45% LTV, I’d say about 15% of my net worth is in my Bed Stuy house. I have three other homes of which only one has a mortgage, and a small one at that.
If I were all cash I would definitely buy right now if i found the house that I want architecturally. That’s why I bought when I did in Bed Stuy. Having the house drop in value 10-20% really doesn’t mean anything to me.
If I were all cash I’d probably look harder at things that are coming down in Ft. Greene or Boerum Hill.
I have “enough” money that I don’t care.
See, isn’t it better not to have to throw in swear words?
Dave,
Yes, I understood the sentence. Subtext – the good properties don’t trade, but last time they did a certain special someone expressed their confidence in Bed Stuy in the form of a mansion purchase (psst – I hear Goldman is in the crowd using wedbush as their give up buying heavy).
I’m sick, which is why I am online at this hour (damn HR), so forgive the tone. However, I see you on this site 9-5 telling everyone who’ll listen how happy you are to have the majority of your net worth tied up in Brooklyn real estate. If you weren’t so deeply invested in Brooklyn real estate, and were all cash, would you purchase right now? I bet you’d wait till someone had to hit your, much lower, bid.
But hey, gotta keep selling the dream that you already bought.
– pause for your “I have so much money I don’t care” response.
A great example of the issues is the house that was open last week on bainbridge. It had a fantastic brownstone & redstone (?) exterior yet the interior was somewhat “troublesome.” Yes, great block and great facade but behind that, not much. Those are the most delusional sellers in my opinion.
The two limestones were fantastic on the inside and fetched $1.1 MM each +/-. There hasn’t been anything comparable since early 2008.