How are we looking this spring, readers? In short, very tough hunting for buyers, and very lucrative poaching for sellers. The latest Annual Market Report came in, for 2013, which dovetails nicely with our discussion of the Spring Market. I had a short meeting with Gregory Heym, head of our firm’s in-house economic team, which
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If you took a peek at my other recent post about housing starts being up significantly from 2012 to 2013, note that many of those Manhattan projects are online and in construction. I’m not trying be the frontline reviewer of these projects, necessarily, but in the past month I did get to see 2 projects
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A year (and a day or so) ago, I was writing back to hundreds of people who knew I was running the Boston Marathon, telling them that I was safe and okay. Until that point, running always had been at worst a logistical pain, or some leg cramping. I’m glad to see that aside from
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Let’s talk about mortgage rates for a moment. My understanding is that despite the Citibank earnings that came out yesterday, mortgage originations are way down, 71% from a year ago. It sounds like originations across other major lenders, like Wells Fargo, are far down as well. A thought – make sure you hire a
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The First Quarter Report is out! The British are coming! The Russians are coming! Asia is coming! The Middle East is coming! Here is the link. The headline news will make sellers drool. Unfortunately, the numbers are skewed on both sides. Year over year, Q1 2013 was down because of the massive number of end
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Almost all the latest indicators point to a strengthening local economy. Lower mortgage rates, averaging 4.28%, down a few basis points – a year ago, rates were averaging 3.52% Over 91,000 jobs added in NYC over the last year A push for less Federal involvement in mortgages, which should make mortgages easier to get! Unemployment
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Let’s chat about 551 West 21st Street, a boutique new development whose sales office I visited last week. Full disclosure: My firm is marketing the property, but I am not. This just-born project, one of many in the hopper for Sir Norman Foster of Foster & Partners, is stunning. One of my favorites of his
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Forgive me a post about ideas. I feel so lucky to live and work in New York. I tell just about anyone who will listen that this city is endlessly interesting. A city of ideas, a city of energy. Perhaps the “never sleeping” aspect is overblown, but even by pulling out a tidbit here or
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For those of you who just happened upon this blog , I’m originally from New Orleans. As often happens in the dead of winter, especially a miserable snowy winter like the one that seems to be wrapping up, I’m thinking of warmer climes, including my hometown. Mardi Gras just passed, and while some are slogging
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I have a high-floor two-bedroom condominium listing in Toll Brothers’ first New York City development, 110 Third Avenue. We are marketing it at $2.5 million, with significant interest. The lack of inventory for high-floor, great view, full-service Downtown condominiums make this highly desirable. With that in mind, I found my trip to Brooklyn Heights to
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