Congratulations, Staten Island! You, sir (ma'am? No, definitely sir), are the only borough of New York whose number of foreclosures actually fell this quarter, according to PropertyShark's foreclosures report. Hooray! In total, foreclosures increased citywide by 4.7% to a total of 961, which isn't so bad when you look at the rest of the country, but is still 49% higher than Q2 2007. Once again, Queens—specifically District 12, which includes Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans—was the naughtiest, racking up 558 foreclosures, up from 508 in the previous quarter. Brooklyn had 167 (up from 140) and Manhattan had 38 (up from 23). Click through the gallery for more charts-and-graphs fun.
· Foreclosure Reports [Property Shark]
· Curbed Roundtable: July State O' the Market Report [Curbed]
· First Quarter Foreclosures Report: Bad Day for Queens [Curbed]
1) There are more details on 61 Fifth Avenue, the former Schrafft's luncheonette (in a previous life) that was gutted by fire two years ago and then recently sold: "Now the architect Alta Indelman says she is working on a design for a 10-story apartment house with one triplex, three duplexes and ground-floor retailing. She said that she had considered trying to salvage some of the Schrafft's facade but that it was too far gone." Something tells us this one may not go down without a fight. [Streetscapes/Schrafft's]
2) With the luxury rental market softening, developers are offering incentives to lure new tenants. Not really news (see: The Ludlow), but new Curbed favorite Dwell on Wall is offering to pay brokers' fees and toss in two free months' rent, and fellow FiDi building 20 Exchange Place is paying brokers' fees, not asking for security deposits, adding one free month of rent and a pet spa appointment for Rover on move-in day. ['Luring Affluent Renters in Manhattan']
3) That Jersey City market better hold, because the developers who turned the American Can Company factory into the Canco Lofts are now planning to condoize the rest of the property. That means more than 1,100 new units being brought to market, on top of the 200 already put up for sale (60 have sold). Cross your fingers! [In the Region/'Ambitions Expand at Canco Lofts']
Have tough times arrived over at The Onyx, the often-stalled 52-unit condo project at 261 West 28th Street? Perhaps the infamous credit crunch is to blame for the RENT NOW signs which have recently appeared there. It was only a year ago that the Onyx gang was partying it up, celebrating the possibility of living within that big stack of black. So, besides the general economic craziness, what's going on? Gripes from those who bought there have not gone unnoticed. Still, being a stone's throw from midtown, and with the Lincoln Tunnel so close, what could there be not to like? Those who are still interested might want to take a look at a couple of listings, the first starting just below $6K per month for something new with 1-bed 1-bath while $7K brings a 1-bed with a big spacious terrace for viewing the world below. Deals abound!
· Development Update-o-Rama: Stalled at Onyx [Curbed]
· Onyx Parties Down [Curbed]
· New Development GripeWire: Chelsea Edition [Curbed]
UPDATE: Corcoran broker Joseph Bongiovanni writes: "Having sold out the Onyx Chelsea myself, I can tell you it is, in fact, sold out. A few condo owners who bought and closed are renting out their units. The 'For Rent' sign is for the commercial space. For the record, the Onyx never stalled although there was a slight delay of putting up the façade. It is an awards-winning façade designed by the highly acclaimed FXFowle."
"Homes are being foreclosed in New York less than in nearly every other major US city, according to a study released yesterday. And the state is bucking a national trend that has reclaimed more homes this year than last. Eighty-seven of every 10,000 properties were seized in cities this first quarter, yet New York saw only 53 of every 10,000 foreclosed, according to the report, commissioned by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the mortgage company Freddie Mac. Only Boston, with 44, had fewer." [NYP]
PropertyShark's first quarter foreclosure report may be more than two months old, but it's never too late to break out a scary red map. The Post does just that today, reporting on the 918 foreclosures (compared to 606 the previous quarter and 554 the year before—thanks Queens!) and adding some chills by mentioning the stat from earlier this week on the big jump in the nationwide mortgage delinquency rate. And while New York is still immune from many of the woes plaguing the rest of the country, and foreclosures remain relatively low, there is cause for concern. Isn't there always? Data from May shows the problem is getting worse (Manhattan did manage to rack up 14 foreclosures in May, compared to just 23 in Q1), banks are clamping up and making it tougher for homeowners to fight their way out of foreclosure, and neighboring property values go right in the toilet once an f-bomb drops nearby.
· Danger Zone [NYP]
· First Quarter Foreclosures Report: Bad Day for Queens [Curbed]
Hungry for a little doom-and-gloom for breakfast? Reuters tackles the always dicey topic of Wall Street's affect on the Manhattan real estate market, and they're beyond sounding the alarm—they pretty much command everyone to get into the bunker. [Reuters]
Do media reports of real estate doom and gloom have any affect on the market or buyers' confidence? There will probably never be a definitive answer, but the Toll Brothers definitely think so. So, with sales reportedly slowing but prices rising/holding steady, a pair of reports on the market's overall health in terms of buying and renting hit the papes today. The Postreports that, according to analysts, we are now officially in a renters' market. This may come as a surprise to anyone who has actually tried to rent a place lately, and especially as we head into prime rental season, but the argument is that the Wall Street woes are hitting hard. In fact, "Some real estate pros point to 8 percent to 10 percent declines in rent - and say steeper discounts could be on the way through the summer." And for our condo-buying friends, New York's S. Jhoanna Robledo tracks one of our favorite topics: buyers' incentives! The claim is that developers, afraid of "oversupply," are offering up such classic goodies as paying for closing costs, tossing in the staging furniture and adding minor renovations that a buyer requests. After reading these stories today, a casual observer might think that real estate is now practically being given away in the Big Apple. Which, if so, leaves us chagrined. Why did nobody tell us?!
· A Renters' Market [NYP]
· But Wait! There's More! [NYM]
A foreclosure auction in the land of Gossip Girl? Impossible! But it's happening, writes broker-blogger Andrew Fine, on the steps of the courthouse at 60 Centre Street next Thursday. The foreclosed property is a parlor-floor apartment at 24 East 82nd Street, in a mansion once owned by a Heart or a Whitney or something. The apartment is a 1,200-square-foot floor-through, last listed for $1.75M in 2005. The bank is looking to recover the $1.1M default plus interest. [A Fine Blog]
"The Wall Street downturn is likely to lead to at least a mini-mass departure from Manhattan which should lead to softer rents. I remember seeing a lot of moving trucks in 1990 on the UWS. And at night, particularly in the newer buildings at the time, the windows were dark in the evenings. I've noticed an uptick in the number of advertised vacancies at newer rental buildings today. IMO vacancies at market rate rental apartment buildings are the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine.'" [Your Morning Credit Crunch: Rentals Suffering?]
The first 90 days of the year saw only two prominent office buildings change hands, as recession fears have dried up financing for investment sales. Yes, the situation is bad, perhaps the worst in decades, especially when one takes into consideration a couple of quotes from some heavy-hitters. Says Larry Silverstein, "During my entire career of more than 55 years in real estate, I have never seen a dislocation of the capital markets of this magnitude." And from Vornado CEO Steven Roth: "Based on the current climate in commercial real estate, investment sales brokers can take off for the entire year." You hear that, brokers? Steve said you can take the year off! [Sun]
Sam Chang needs no introduction around these parts, but for those with little knowledge regarding the McSam Hotel Group boss, all you need to know is that he's the developer of the year, yet the Bronx would rather have a chicken slaughterhouse than one of his hotels. Also, he doesn't like Brooklyn but he does like this. Chang has made a fortune building cheap, ugly hotels on the quick and then selling them off just as fast, but Crain's reports today that our man Sam is in a rough spot. The credit crunch is hitting the McSam Hotel Group hard, jeopardizing the 25 hotels Chang currently has under construction, and the 15 more in the pipeline:
The most pressing problem, funding, comes after Mr. Chang raised hundreds of millions of dollars on Wall Street to build Comfort Inns, Best Westerns and other budget properties that investors had shunned.
Mr. Chang's main financier, Credit Suisse, has pulled back dramatically. The entrepreneur is now turning to community banks, which demand that he contribute 40% of the total project cost—double what his former lenders required.
Yesterday was the fun market-report day, even if the news was mixed. Today, it's the sad market-report day: PropertyShark's Q1 foreclosures study. Things are getting a little dicey, as you can see above, though it could be worse (Miami had nine times as many). Still, the 918 first-time foreclosures represent a 51% increase over Q4 2007, and a 65% increase over the first quarter of last year. Of course, it's all Queens's fault (and to a lesser extent, Staten Island), as the borough accounts for 508 of the foreclosures. Manhattan even slipped a little, from 27 to 23. Click through the gallery of charts for all your dirty f-word needs.
· First Quarter Market Reports: Prices Up, Sales Down [Curbed]
· Subprimal Therapy: Advice for Foreclosure Sufferers [Curbed]
The entire industry has been holding its breath in anticipation of this moment, and here we go: the release of the major brokerages' Q1 market sales reports. Will the credit crunch and the mortgage crisis finally infiltrate Manhattan real estate? Will Wall Street layoffs slow the now years-strong market surge? No, yes and maybe. Here's the headline: prices are up—again. In fact, the average sales price reached a new record. Jonathan Miller's report for Elliman has the Q1 average sales price at $1.72 million, up 33.5% from Q1 2007. Gregory Heym's Halstead/Brown Harris Stevens report (not online yet) has the number at $1.69 million, up 46% from his numbers last year. Wow! But we all know those numbers are inflated by the 15 Central Park West and Plaza closings (for the quarter, 71 apartments sold for more than $10 million, compared with 17 in Q1 2007), so what about the median? Elliman has the median sales price at a record $945,276, up 13.2% over last year, while Halstead/BHS has it at $855,000, also a record and up 13%. Woo, the bulls win! Let's pop the champagne! Well, hold that thought, because here is where things get a little dicey.
The major brokerages' Q1 market reports are due out in the next few days, but Bloomberg got a teaser from Curbed chartmaster and appraiser extraordinaire Jonathan Miller, who prepared Elliman's quarterly report. Brace:
Manhattan apartment sales fell in January and February from a year earlier and new properties came to the market at the fastest pace since at least 2000, according to data from New York-based real estate appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. Transactions slid 6.4 percent to 3,250, while the number of condominiums, co- operatives and townhouses for sale at the end of last month climbed to 6,225, 15 percent more than at the start of the year.
Are the credit crunch and Wall Street job cuts starting to rear their ugly head within the world of Manhattan real estate? Or are year-over-year numbers not worth pulling your hair out over? Oh my, this is going to be an interesting week. But while the number of transactions may be down from this time last year, prices still seem to be rising. Brown Harris Stevens' and Halstead's chief economist reports a 14% property price increase, to a median of $850,000. The final feast before the empire collapses?
· New York City Real Estate Market Slows as Wall Street Cuts Jobs [Bloomberg]
Comments
PropertyShark's first quarter foreclosure report may be more than 
Do media reports of real estate doom and gloom have any affect on the market or buyers' confidence? There will probably never be a definitive answer, but the Toll Brothers 
Sam Chang needs no introduction around these parts, but for those with little knowledge regarding the McSam Hotel Group boss, all you need to know is that he's the 
The entire industry has been holding its breath in anticipation of this moment, and here we go: the release of the major brokerages' Q1 market sales reports. Will the credit crunch and the mortgage crisis finally infiltrate Manhattan real estate? Will Wall Street layoffs slow the now years-strong market surge? No, yes and maybe. Here's the headline: prices are up—again. In fact, the average sales price reached a new record. Jonathan Miller's report for 
The major brokerages' Q1 market reports are due out in the next few days, but 
