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 pretty sure we’re in the same boat, Tyburg. What I make here is considered peanuts, but in any other city, I’d be upper middle class as a single person. I don’t know…there’s something about NYC that keeps me here. I’m a naturally curious person by nature, and this city keeps me on my toes in a way that I feel as though I might end up stagnating in another city where things are a little “easier.”
It’s indescribable really…it reminds me of an asinine quote from Brokeback Mountain “I just can’t quit you”
Although if Jake Gyllenhall ever offered, I’d leave for wherever he wanted to go in a heartbeat.
I hear tyburg’s point. I’ve lived in this city for 25 years and love it greatly, but could see the temptation of living elsewhere. In fact, I would seriously consider a move to a more affordable city like Portland, Boston, Berkeley etc. (where friends of mine live in areas of the city comparable to Bklyn but pay much less for housing) were it not for my husband who is a real die-hard NYC fan. Because I love this city, it’s not a point of tension in our marriage, but what can be frustrating is the cost of living.
I work for a culture nonprofit and my husband for a small company so our incomes are modest. We had the good luck to have some start-up capital for our first home purchase which we leveraged into more and that’s what allows us to consider buying a home now, though the property we’re seeking would be considered modest in size in any other part of the country, and yet still costs a fortune – in part this is because we are attached to our prime location since our kid is in school there but also our community including childcare help. I know there are all kinds of ways to be raise kids in this city and make things work on a modest salary, but even with the major advantage we have (in terms of the past good luck in real estate), we do find it a struggle, between needing 2 full-time incomes, negotiating public school, childcare, commutes, etc. And for sure, the biggest ticket item hanging over our heads right now – and hence my obsession with real estate – is the price/location of our next home, since it ties into every other aspect of our lives – where we send our kids to school, our childcare options, travel time to work/school, how much income we need and hence how much time we have to spend with our families etc.
There are many times when I wish for a simper life, where we could buy, as many friends of ours did, a $400-600K home in a lovely college town or even in the Boston/Berkeley/Portland area. At that price (our budget here is over $1million), we could have cash to spare and consequently could feel less harried all the time, on the nonstop treadmill to work, work, work to bring home the donuts. Frankly, because of this treadmill, and our need to watch our money very carefully, we wind up not fully taking advantage as much as we’d like of this city’s cultural offerings (though we try when we can).
The one silver lining of this economic downturn is that we truly hope for ourselves, and many other people we know, this city does become a lot more affordable. I don’t think we’re anywhere close to that yet, but we are certainly heading in that direction.
Absolutely 11217 — couldn’t agree more. I enjoy myself. I just through those things out there to suggest the many many many ways this city drains you. I love the park — and I also hope to find a good $200 bicycle to replace my current one — and I cook and so on…
But it does beg the question… Why NYC? Most of the loving life, do it for free type things have nothing to do with New York or Brooklyn. Again, I’m fond of NYC for many reasons… I just find my fondness challenged.
“It does not cost me $12 to get out of this city – just drive up the FDR and over the GW and cost nothing.”
And how much does it cost to come home?
I have to say Tyburg…I really have appreciated your comments today…I feel like I understand where you are coming from a lot better.
I agree with Pete too…I go to Broadway shows on occasion…I never spend more than 40 bucks…I go to restaurants I’ve wanted to go to during Brooklyn or NYC restaurant week for 23 bucks for 3 courses, I get drunk before I go out, and I’ve taken to cooking.
It takes some creativity, but it sounds like that’s in your bones, so use some of that to figure out a way to enjoy yourself on a budget, is my only advice.
So many of the great things in life are free anyway…I have more fun on a sunny day with friends in Prospect Park than I do eating out at Nobu when it all comes down to it.
yikes< i meant plenty that are affordable…flatbush, jackson hts, astoria, etc.
1) all those arguments of not needing to be in NYC (or any city) started at least a generation ago. Yet over the past couple of decades there has been a greater trend to the larger cities of the coasts and away from those smaller cities you people think are the new wave. Portland is one a a handful of places that seems to appeal to an affluent artsier demographic yet population growth of that county is small and future projections (by their own estimates) are not significant(at least compared to ‘growth’ areas).
2) It does not cost me $12 to get out of this city – just drive up the FDR and over the GW and cost nothing.
3) I do not pay $300 for broadway tix. I use TDF and spend about $35.
4) There are plenty of coops in middle class neighborhoods that are so unaffordable. But I really middle(where people that earn middle for metro area) – not upper middle,etc.
Most people in this city are renters. No way is ‘mean income’ peeople going to be able a house.
Thank you SnarkSlope…
Squaredrive, I absolutely do live here… in Ditmas Park, or Beverley Square West or Victorian Flatbush or SoChuch.
I indeed have a fondness for NYC, well, actually Brooklyn to be precise. If the Met and MOMA weren’t in Manhattan, I’d have very little inclination to go to that island.
My problem is that the cost of living challenges my fondness EVERYDAY. I make a decent wage — quite a healthy sum in most other places — but I find myself struggling in this city, living paycheck-to-paycheck. Oh, by the way, I have one of those jobs that can’t be outsourced and moved to another city… me or someone like me *must* work here in Brooklyn, but soon the person with my job will have to commute over an hour from New Jersey or Central Queens or Ozone Park. Does that seem right?
I’m a renter… I don’t have the financial cushion (say, $100k) needed to own. BUT, the real estate market directly affects me! Every house that sells for $1.6 million instead of $560k (as it did 5 yeas ago) means the 1-bedroom apartment in the basement is now rented for $2700 to a lawyer or banker with gobs of ridiculous cash instead of $1400 to a person like me… oh, and I end up renting an apartment that should be available to a secretary or shop worker… they simply don’t get an apartment. They commute 3 hrs a day to earn $28k a year… basically our table scraps.
And all of the culture and art and cuisine… I love it. Do you know the effort and planning it takes in order to enjoy this stuff once in a great while? I don’t have an extra $300 for a broadway ticket, or $60 for a Mets crap seat, or $50 /person for a meal…. because this city drains me. Thus my waning fondness. I have friends here and a job I enjoy — if either of those factors were to worsen… I’m not sure what would keep me here honestly.
(p.s. If I made $150k… guess what, I would probably be SOOOOO effing fond of this city it would hurt.)