Miller Samuel Report: Sales Down; Bstone, Burg Prices Up
Brooklyn has left the stone age behind, or at least joined the ranks of Manhattan, Queens and Long Island in finally having a Miller Samuel residential market report to call its own. The inaugural report from Jonathan Miller & co. for Elliman is based on public records and breaks down the borough into four regions,…
Brooklyn has left the stone age behind, or at least joined the ranks of Manhattan, Queens and Long Island in finally having a Miller Samuel residential market report to call its own. The inaugural report from Jonathan Miller & co. for Elliman is based on public records and breaks down the borough into four regions, which shows how diverse Brooklyn’s market it is and more or less only finds one commonality among all the neighborhoods in the second quarter: Sluggish sales volume. The number of sales was down 43.6 percent from the second quarter in ’07. “The market is weaker than it was a few years ago simply because of the lower level of activity, but depending on the submarket we’re looking at, we’re certainly seeing a lot of sales,” says Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller, who attributes the big drop in sales mostly to the tighter credit market. “For example, sales in brownstone Brooklyn are still half of what they were last year. Part of that is dearth of credit, but there’s also not much inventory.” About that brownstone Brooklyn: The report found the median sales price was up 7.5 percent in brownstone neighborhoods, to $673,101, over the same time last year, even though the number of sales was down 34 percent. Click through for some of the other takeaways.
CONDOS: Median sales price of a condo this quarter was $514,725, up 8.1% from last year at this time. New development condos sold for $649 per square foot, up 27.5% from the prior year quarter, while re-sale condos sold for $496 per square foot, up 7.4% from the same period last year. (Read: There’s been a lot of closing activity on new developments)
1-3 FAMILY HOUSES: Comprise more than half the sales in Brooklyn. Average sales price, $654,614, was basically unchanged from this time last year.
WILLIAMSBURG AND GREENPOINT: Overall median sales price of all property types was $508,402, up 9% from the same period last year.
SOUTHERN BROOKLYN: More than half of the total sales in the borough were in this area. Median sales price slipped 2.6% to $477,500 from the same period last year, the lowest median price of the four market areas.
EAST BROOKLYN: Median sales price dropped 10.9% to $673,101 this quarter, the weakest price trend of the four market regions.
The answer is probably that discussions about a restructure are looming that would put the responsibility and ownership of f&f in the hands of the gov. If the government doesn’t want this to happen then they will strike some deal with equity holders.
What does this have to do with Brownstone Brooklyn? I agree with Dave – less than it has to do with other parts of the US (at least directly) because Brownstone Brooklyn was not financed by F&F. The loans in recent times were too big and mostly nonconforming. So Brownstone Brooklyn is in a better position than other parts of the US (just like Manhattan is).
BUT F&F being in trouble is not great and if the economy suffers in general then so will BB (this is what the What is saying). New York has largely dodged the bullet so far but it might not continue to do so. Wall Street has to have a bad year (and pass this pain onto employees) for New York and BB to suffer. If Wall Street has more layoffs (of high numbers) then NY and BB could be in for a downturn. The What wants this to happen, but it has not happened yet and the property downturn in the rest of the country has been going on for some time and it will eventually hit bottom. NY isn’t going to fall while the rest of the country stays stagnant or rises so the risk is, to those that are short BB, that no significant drop ever comes.
Thank you Aussie. I didn’t have the patience to completely spell it out for him.
The trouble with having to be right is that Truth and reasoned, unbiased analysis goes out the window.
It is very clear that the US Gov would not allow F&F to default on their obligations. This just isn’t going to happen because of the implications to the financial system. It is just a matter of dollars and cents. It is far less costly to protect those obligations now than to try to resolve the contagion that would spread throughout the globe if the obligations were to default. You have to draw the distinction between obligations and equity. The equity holders (ie the owners) may very well be toast, and Bear Stearns is a good example here.
There is a third issue which could affect the real economy and play into what happens to both obligations and equity. What happens going forward to the services that were provided by F&F? Can they continue to provide credit for homebuyers in the US as they have for decades? Without this credit, financing on “joe average” homes will be much harder to obtain. Who would be willing to invest in equity in F&F if the US gov hangs the equity holders out to dry? If there is no equity who is going to own and run F&F and protect the American dream of home ownership (which is what F&F were set up to do). The bond holders are still lending to F&F (at a slight premium) because the bond holders know they will get their money back, but equity holders are going to be pretty scarce if the gov doesn’t show some support (and I doubt they will). They will be scarce because equity holders were willing to invest before because there was a tacit gov guarantee (that has now not materialized). The answer
Argh. This is what I was afraid of. We’ll lose all the intelligent (guest) commenters and be stuck with the opinionated losers. Stoner, why are you doing this?
Dave = Biff
Biff = What
Therefore:
Dave = What.
Any question?
I’m not new here, Dave – I’ve read this blog for weeks, witnessing as several people, including The What and you – sling bitter, personal invective at each other. Are you proud of having sunk to The What’s level? If so, good for you. But you won’t have to worry about me for very long. Registering here is not my style, so I’m gone. Peace.
“11:42 you are right he does have a right to post but what is he posting about? his comments are not related to Brownstone Brooklyn. So guess what 11:42 get back to your trailer park you asshat.”
You’re a moron. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are the biggest mortgage lenders in the country, and Brooklyn is definitely a part of the U.S. I own a brownstone in Crown Heights and have since 2002. I’ve never been near a trailer park – I’m FROM Brooklyn, you jackass. But YOU are obviously quite familiar trailer parks.
11:42 you are right he does have a right to post but what is he posting about? his comments are not related to Brownstone Brooklyn. So guess what 11:42 get back to your trailer park you asshat.
11:42…the government will cover the book of mortgages. What they will not protect is the equity. The stock will continue to go down to the point where the government has to guarantee the debt. The What gets these two things confused.
As far as class-based insults, the What is the master of that; or are you new here?