Last Week's Biggest Sales
Sweet premium on the Prospect Heights house. Aside from that, however, it was a pretty sluggish week, with no sales over $2 mil. 1. PROSPECT HEIGHTS $1,820,000 401 Park Place GMAP (left) Asking $1,695,000 when we had it as an open house pick in early March. 2,495-sf, 1-fam house. Deed recorded 6/19. 2. BOERUM HILL…
Sweet premium on the Prospect Heights house. Aside from that, however, it was a pretty sluggish week, with no sales over $2 mil.
1. PROSPECT HEIGHTS $1,820,000
401 Park Place GMAP (left)
Asking $1,695,000 when we had it as an open house pick in early March. 2,495-sf, 1-fam house. Deed recorded 6/19.
2. BOERUM HILL $1,725,000
233 Dean Street GMAP (right)
House originally listed in January for $1,750,000, according to Street Easy, and went into contract in mid-May. 3,780-sf, 4-fam. Deed recorded 6/18.
3. PARK SLOPE $1,485,000
172 Sterling Place, Unit 7 GMAP
3-bed, 3-bath last sold for $1,485,000 almost exactly a year ago, according to Street Easy. Deed recorded 6/17.
4. PARK SLOPE $1,400,000
70 8th Avenue, Unit 1 GMAP
3-bed, 2.5 bath originally listed for $1,595,000 last September, according to Street Easy. Deed recorded 6/20.
5. BOROUGH PARK $1,325,000
1552 55th Street GMAP
2,640-sf, 2-fam house. Deed recorded 6/20.
Photos from Property Shark.
“12:39 – what was the price of your 1BR? And how many square feet? Did you do any improvements?”
549K and around 550 square feet. And besides painting and new electrical cover plates, I’ve done no work to the apartment. It is on a gorgeous tree-lined North Slope block though.
“About 1000 gallons per year.”
Try 1000 gallons per month, not year. Most rents and mortgages for the same space people are used to who live out of urban areas rent or cost around 5K per MONTH in either rent or mortgage payment up here. I know of no-one who uses 1000 gallons of gas per month. People are not going to come running to those kinds of payments or rent amounts just because gas is high. Even at $10/gallon one would have to use 400-500 gallons per month. When I lived in the rural south I used maybe 150 gallons per month and drove 30 miles both ways to work and back every day. My complete mortgage, taxes, insurance, and bills on my 4450 sq ft. 7 bedroom house with a pool there is only 1450/mo. My rent here is $1850 for a 500 sq ft. studio/loft in Williamsburg. And as for the cost of heating, have you checked you Keyspan and Con-ed bills lately or the price of fuel oil? The price per therm of all of them is equal to (or in my case double that of my rural south home I still maintain). So people who believe that people are running up here to pay astronomical prices to live in the ghetto are either ignorant or insane. None of my friends or family from down there would ever consider having to share their house with 3 other families just to make their mortgage, nor shoving all 3-4 kids into one 10 x 10 bedroom in an apartment even if gas goes to $10/gal or more. Keep on dreaming. People live here because they want to live here, not because its cheap or even convenient.
12:42 typifies the point I have been making. People are willing to wait for a place they really like and overbid if need be to get it. People are no longer willing to just buy whatever they can get because of pressure. Nice, quality places will continue to get good prices. Places with shoddy flip-style renovations in less-desirable neighborhoods or with too many detractions (on the BQE or Atlantic, no sunlight, short ceilings, etc.) will get few or no offers and will sit
12:42 – we recently sold our 3BR apt and are renting while we actively look to buy a house. We found a number of nice 3BR in PS321 for less than $3500, with laundry and storage and some that were positively palatial for a bit more (around $4000). They are not impossible to find even if you have to look a bit harder. Also, realtors were sure to point out to me that landlords can be negotiable too – you can sometimes get the rent for less than asked. Bear in mind too that spring/early summer are the peak time for rentals so prices are higher and better deals can be had in the fall. Also, if you don’t care about the school zone you can do even better. Our 3BR with 2BA and private W/D and outdoor space, which sold for close to 1 million, would have rented for only $3800 according to several realtors since it was outside 321.
12:39 – Good apartments in prime areas (like landmarked blocks of Cobb H, BH, CG, PS, etc) will continue to be fine in my opinion, and maybe that includes you. But, I think the days of apartments on the fringe of nice neighborhoods, where the apartment has no natural sunlight or is next to a needle-exchange program, or across from the PJs, and the apartment enters into a bidding war… those types of apartments will start selling for less or sit.
I also think as crime starts to tick upward as well, people will see apartments in nicer, safer landmarked neighborhoods continue to appreciate. Places in Park “Slide” (i.e., 4th Avenue), Bed Stuy, Clinton Hill, Bushwick, Flatbush, etc. will struggle, though.
12:39 – what was the price of your 1BR? And how many square feet? Did you do any improvements? Anecdotes can always provide exceptions to the rule, but are not typical. Also, a note of caution: it ain’t over til it’s over so I would not gloat til the contracts are signed and the closing behind you. That said, congratulations on a successful FSBO open house.
12:39 –
I am the other person who recently sold FSBO in Park Slope. We too got over ask, with 4 bids in a week, and almost 200K more than when we bought 2 yrs ago. I think some properties are still commanding high prices. But some properties are sitting. I think if it is a good apartment it still sells quickly and for decent money, but if there is anything about the layout or the location that people are hesitant about, it sits much longer than a couple years ago.
I walked up 7th Avenue last weekend and looked in all of the real estate windows. I was shocked at the prices. The absolute cheapest place was $2100 for a 1 bedrooms and I saw MANY listing around 2500-3000 for 1 bedrooms, a few 2 bedrooms for 3500-4000 and a handful of 5000 and 6000 rentals.
I was FLOORED!
12:33 – typical vitriol from someone who can’t stand the thought that market is shifting. First, we have plenty of cash so won’t need a jumbo mortgage. Second, when rates do go up, which they inevitably will given inflationary pressure, housing market will suffer more and prices will be even more negotiable. Third, the next year or so may very well be a good time to buy – we are certainly aiming to buy, but it will depend on finding the right property at right price, and we are indeed seeing more flexibility, just have not found the place we love. But most asking prices are currently unrealistic, I guess because sellers/brokers are factoring in that buyers will bid significantly under ask…