elika's Blog: All Categories

With the peak of the Manhattan Real Estate market looking like it has passed for the near term, many observers are waiting to see when the drop in the market's value will begin and how far down it will go.

Those assuming the same will happen with the luxury market, however, are beginning to wonder if the old axiom about assumptions might start to apply to them. The number of super-luxury apartments – those with a cost greater than $4 million – sold in the month of May hit a new all-time monthly record of 52 units.

Indeed, though the luxury market has led the way, the Manhattan market in general is faring relatively well. Even excluding some of the priciest closings on the island that took place at 15 Central Park West, the average price for an…

Despite the predictions of many, Manhattan real estate increased in value dramatically during the first quarter of 2008. Led by the luxury market's huge increase in value, Manhattan led the way for the rest of New York City, which increased its value by an estimated 28%.

A number of important new Manhattan condo developments came onto the market during the first quarter of the year, and their sales have continued to power the market, even as the national business media focuses on the poor state of the national economy.

Indeed, the lesson of the first quarter is an important one: Events not closely tied to the business cycle – in this case, a number of luxury condominiums coming onto the market when worries about a recession began to amount –…

Perhaps because everyone in the industry has been waiting for New York City's real estate market to begin looking a bit more like the rest of the country's, the media's coverage of the last quarter's surprisingly strong numbers were almost celebratory. 

That doesn't mean that the numbers were strong.  Just because the numbers were a whole lot better than expected doesn't mean they were good, per ce.  Average prices actually rose on Manhattan, and the rest of the city didn't seem to be doing terribly.  With Spring typically being a strong quarter, some analysts have been holding out hope for another quarter of unexpectedly strong performance by the New York apartment market. 

The numbers, however, just don't add up... the first quarter numbers are…

The first quarter of the year was a bad one for the national housing market. Nothing much new occurred, however it  was an unabated continuation of last year, which was one of the worst years for the national market on record.  In that environment, however, the Manhattan real estate market continued to do OK.

Seemingly against all odds, the average price of New York apartments improved almost twenty percent from the same time last year.  The increase in prices was largely driven by the luxury market, which saw several new high end buildings go on the market.

Underlying the effect that the strong numbers from the luxury sector had on the market as a whole, rents actually…

As the subprime crisis only gets worse, the nation's housing market is set to suffer the same ignominious fate as it did in 2007.  Last year was the worst year for the national housing market since the Great Depression, and the subprime crisis is beginning to give America's financial markets a reputation as the world's chief exporter of recessions.  2008 is expected to be as bad, if not significantly worse. 

A number of housing markets, however, have remained strong during this time.  That being said, the Manhattan real estate market is the only major market that could still feasibly be characterized as a bull market. 

Even here, most of the market has reached a standstill, neither advancing or retreating in a particularly stark way. …

The first quarter numbers are in for the Manhattan real estate market, and old records have yet again been broken. While the numbers seem surprisingly positive, the overall picture is more complex.

Average home prices were up roughly one third, or 33.5%, over last year's numbers. All told, the average price of a Manhattan apartment has risen to an astounding $1.7 million.

There are several warning signs for the New York apartment market, however. There is a growing disparity between Manhattan prices and the rest of the city's real estate market. More importantly, while prices have remained high, sales have slowed significantly.

Furthermore, Manhattan's record average…

The collapse of Bear Stearns has sent shockwaves across the international economy. One of the five big New York investment firms, its demise has had a psychological effect on the economy perhaps greater than its actual direct impact.

Its timing for the national economy is also particularly bad: When the consensus has just developed that the economy is decidedly in a recession, all of a sudden a major New York bank has vanished, making what could be perceived as a mild recession look like a possibly massive one.

The same is even more true for the Manhattan real estate market. The city had started to just barely noticeably tip in the direction of a…

For a little over a year now, the strength of the New York City real estate market has been a stark contrast to the national market. As things worsened across the country, the news was either great or just OK for New York City.

As the market finally started to show signs of its own mortality towards the end of 2007, the overall numbers were still fairly positive. The luxury housing market was propping the rest of the city's market up. Most luxury markets are typically well-removed from the business cycle, so it came as little surprise that, even in the wake of the financial market's problems, the luxury apartment market held up well against the national… Read Full Post