Manhattan Market Frozen
The news from across the East River ain’t good: Prices and sales volume are both down, and it’s taking a lot longer for apartments to sell; inventory is up 34 percent over last year. That’s the bottom line of the First Quarter Report from Douglas Elliman and Halstead released this morning. The number of co-op…
The news from across the East River ain’t good: Prices and sales volume are both down, and it’s taking a lot longer for apartments to sell; inventory is up 34 percent over last year. That’s the bottom line of the First Quarter Report from Douglas Elliman and Halstead released this morning. The number of co-op and condo closings fell 58 percent year-over-year and prices dropped 11 percent. (Co-op prices fared worse than condos, though that was likely skewed by fewer eight-figure co-op deals; in fact, the number of $10 million deals fell 87 percent.) Consumer confidence is the killer, said Dottie Herman, president of the Prudential Douglas Elliman brokerage firm. People are scared. They have never seen anything like this. Corcoran head Pam Liebman predicted that prices will fall further as sales volume picks up, which is good—it’s the only way for the market to find its bottom. How do you think the Brooklyn market is faring compared to this?
Apartments Sell for Less if They Are Sold at All [NY Times]
Crisis Hits Home: Manhattan Massacre [NY Post]
Photo by Rob Young
I’m in District 15, and have gotten very attached to our neighborhood since my son already started school there. The hood has gotten very expensive but moving further out is hard due to childcare, friends, commute etc. But if I were starting all over again I might have done things differently. And, the good news is, prices are definitely coming down so we do think we’ll be able to buy something in the next few years within our budget, in our neighborhood.
Miss M-
If I can ask, what district are you in? I am still trying to research schools along with my home search, and all I ever hear time and again are the same few Brooklyn schools mentioned in PS and BH, both completely out of my budget.
I’ve since started looking at coops and condos in Ditmas Park and Midwood, further from the city and a longer commute but larger spaces for a family in seemingly decent school areas.
I’d like to buy before my son starts preschool in 2 years, but a recent perusal of the NYT showed me several 2 bedroom apts w/ dishwasher and laundry in buildings on the UWS for under $2000/mo. (I currently pay more for a dark walkup in a run down building near the AY footprint) I wonder, if come June when my lease is up if I’ll be leaving Brooklyn after all these years for Manhattan. If Brooklyn rental prices don’t fall in the better school district areas, I’m definitely considering it rather than moving farther out and having a longer commute.
Seems totally weird that prices in Manhattan are becoming more reasonable faster than Brooklyn, but that’s what I’m seeing lately.
East NY – As a 25+ yr resident of this city, indeed I was referring to the fact that the city of late has indeed become much more expensive and exclusive (though perhaps that trend will now reverse big time), and when you have kids, you feel it that much more. Did Frank Sinatra raise his kids here?
These little town blues…..
“I’m just pointing out that, as great as this city is, I can see pretty easily how people might choose to live somewhere that is, frankly, easier in many ways.”
Um, this is not a new phenomenon, guys. Are you familiar with the expression “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”? I know NYC has gotten more expensive and exclusive in the last few years, but it’s almost always been a tough place to succeed!
I lived in Seattle for a few years and did the whole driving thing… and I am very happy I don’t have to do that anymore. BUT, I still keep a car. It’s just too useful — but I don’t have payments and it’s an old dependable car with low insurance and the associated expenses are low given how much I drive it.
That’s the situation I would want when/if and wherever I were to move. And that’s why I think, to go back to the earlier line of thinking, the smaller cities will be the ones to grow. You have this option… Seattle is a great example of how urban planning and infrastructure development failed. it’s actually a very difficult city to live in without regular use of a car!
And Pete, I agree with you to some extent… obviously you need to live in a place where your skill set will be in demand. But this is obviously part of growth in the smaller cities. The successful ones will have diversity in their career opportunities.
Totally agree again, Pete.
I could not find a job like the one I have now in another city making the same money. Not even close, I don’t think. And you are correct about the whole car issue and the expenses that come with that. $81 (soon to be $103?!) vs. probably $400 or 500 a month for a car payment plus insurance per month.
Those things add up.
11217…they are today..across the entire Treasury yield curve from 3 year to 30 year. They will start trending up on a consistent basis. This is what I’m referring to as the rate rise that will push fence sitters off of the fence to buying, the spectre of rising rates. Mortgage rates themselves still have a bit to fall but the underlying Treasury securities are starting to sell off and will continue to do so as long as you see a stronger stock market. Mortgage rates are a little stickier to rise and fall than the day=to-day movements of the Treasuries.
Re: interest rates – when they rise, won’t that further depress housing prices?