The Latest Sign of Gentrification: Biggie's Old Apartment Is for Sale for $750,000

POSTED BY KRISTIN IVERSEN ON TUE, APR 2, 2013 AT 1:46 PM

• c/o artnowsf.com

The 3-bedroom apartment where a young Christopher Wallace, later known as Notorious B.I.G. (obviously), lived is now for sale for $750,000. That's a lot of money! Or is it? I don't know. I have maybe officially lost all perception of what "a lot of money" is when it comes to Brooklyn real estate. However, I used to live on that block, wayyyy back in 2001, which was still a completely different era than when Biggie lived there because it was already being called Clinton Hill back, but still, that seems like an awful lot of money.

Biggie, of course, never would have said he came from Clinton Hill. He would have said he came from Bed-Stuy. Obviously. And he also probably wouldn' t have recognized his old apartment, because it went through extensive renovations a few years ago which attempted to "preserv[e the] traditional styling while answering the needs of modern usage." And probably the fact that the real estate listing places special prominence on the presence of "a place to store bikes" in the building, wouldn't have mattered all that much to Biggie. I guess I'm assuming here, but he never seemed like much of a cyclist. And, I mean, who can even guess what he would have thought of the proliferation of bike lanes in his old hood. Sadly, we'll never know. Well, I guess that there are other things about his absence that are a lot sadder than that, but still.

Read Full Story here: http://www.bkmag.com/BKShelter/archives/2013/04/02/the-latest-sign-of-gentrification-biggies-old-apartment-is-for-sale-for-750000

What you need to know about the appraisal process since “there is no category for superexcellent,”

Understanding the Home Appraisal Process

By JIM RENDON

Published: January 11, 2013   

BEFORE anyone can buy a house with a loan from a bank or refinance a mortgage, the lender needs an objective assessment of the property’s value — after all, the home is the bank’s collateral for the loan. Assessing the value is the job of the appraiser.

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Illustration by Phil Marden for The New York Times

Appraising a home, particularly in New York City, is not simple. Similar apartments just a few blocks from one another can have very different values. The floor that a home is on, the kind of view or light it gets — each factor contributes to its value. The best appraisers are intimately familiar with the neighborhoods they work in.

Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, says that with a co-op, he begins by examining the building’s financials: if there is likely to be an increase in maintenance or a special assessment, it might lower the appraisal.

 

Read the full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/realestate/getting-started-assessing-the-value-of-a-home.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=realestate

Upper West Side Inventory in High Demand

UWS has just five months of active listings

January 07, 2013 12:00PM

 

Adrienne Albert and an Upper West Side block

The absorption rate on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is a whopping 33.4 percent, meaning that the supply of listings could run dry in just five months. That neighborhood has the highest absorption rate of the five neighborhoods — the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side, Midtown West, Midtown East and Downtown — tracked in a new Marketing Directors report.
On the Upper West Side, there are some 329 current, active listings. The Downtown market has the next highest absorption rate, 27.1 percent, with 606 available units of housing. There is enough supply in that neighborhood to last some six months. Downtown was followed by the Upper East Side, which has a 24.6 percent absorption rate, 404 active listings and seven months of inventory.
The absorption rate was lower in Midtown East and Midtown West, coming at 19 percent and 19.8 percent respectively.
The report details Manhattan inventory below 110th Street.
“Demand will definitely outpace supply, and this will have a real impact on how developers approach the market — from site acquisition all the way through to pricing and sales,” said Adrienne Albert, founder and CEO of the Marketing Directors, in a release that accompanied the report. —Zachary Kussin

New York City Rental Market outlook - 2013

The Rental Tide Subsides

By JULIE SATOW

Published: December 28, 2012   

Apartment rents in New York City have been rising rapidly for several years, but signs are now emerging that the market has hit a speed bump and is finally shifting to a slower gear.

 

Manhattan rents have been dropping, with the average price $3,368 in November, $76 less than in October and the third consecutive month prices have declined, according to Citi Habitats.

While some of this may be seasonal — the rental market tends to soften during the winter — the pace of rental growth year over year has also slowed. According to Streeteasy.com, median rents are 1.5 percent higher than one year ago, a marked drop from the 10 percent increase that rents posted two years ago and the 15 percent of three years ago. Inventory is also up, with 13,618 Manhattan apartments for rent in November, a 21 percent increase over November 2011, Streeteasy found.

 

Read Full Story Here:   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/realestate/the-new-york-rental-tide-subsides.html?ref=realestate&_r=0

Stalled Brooklyn Condo Developers who successfully converted to rental bldgs

Over the past year, there have been more than few Brooklyn condo developments that have had some trouble getting sales off the ground. That, combined with a hot rental market, has prompted many to convert to rentals and the results, as you can see from the map after the jump, have been good. Not as good as, you know, selling condos, but still, there's definitely no shortage of people looking to pay $2,600 for a 2BR a subway stop or two away from Manhattan.

Read the full story here: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2012/11/15/brooklyns_condos_that_have_gone_rental_in_the_past_year.php

NYC residential sales rise 6% in 3Q | Crain's New York Business

Buck Ennis[+] Enlarge

Citywide, the number of home sales in the third quarter were up 6% from year earlier levels.

 

Updated: October 11, 2012 2:26 p.m.

Home sales and prices rose across the city in the third quarter, according to a new report. In Brooklyn and Queens the average sales price hit its highest point since late 2007, at $619,000 and $411,000, respectively.
According to the quarterly residential sales report from the Real Estate Board of New York, the average price paid for a home in the city rose 1% over the last year, to $786,000.
Citywide, the number of home sales in the third quarter were up 6% from year earlier levels. Manhattan led the five-borough pack with a 7% jump in home sales volumes, while Brooklyn and the Bronx each saw a 5% rise.
Steven Spinola, REBNY's president, said the improvements signaled a housing recovering for the city.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20121011/REAL_ESTATE/121019977#ixzz2919nttlr
 

Market Snapshot

As you’ve probably noted, several real estate market reports were recently released. The data analyzed sales for Manhattan during the last quarter (October through December 2011). There was a plethora of information but the key take-away is that while the market overall is stabilizing, there are some weak spots. Here’s a compilation of the various data:

· Luxury sales of $3 million and up price tags rebounded in early 2011 and continued strong.

· Continued activity by foreign buyers – the most since the 2007 peak.

· Housing prices have stabilized, with the median sales price of $855,000, 1.2 percent above 2010’s median price.

· Q4 2011 sales volume was down 35.3 percent from Q3 2011.

o Analysts point out that the Q4 2010 total may have been inflated due to a last minute surge of buyers who expected the Bush capital gains tax cuts to expire.

· Sales of new condominiums declined most steeply, down 27 percent from Q4 2010 and down 45 percent from Q3 2011. Some causes:

o Fewer new condos have come on the market as development has slowed.

o Lack of condo inventory has hurt sales.

· The median condo price rose 10 percent from last year to $1.197 million.

· Buyers had difficulty getting mortgages for homes in the million-dollar price range.

Manhattan’s real estate market, especially the mid-market price range, continues to be mixed, but prices are stabilizing. The silver lining is that New York continues to outperform other real estate markets and remains highly desirable domestically and globally. We believe there will be good opportunities in 2012 for informed buyers and sellers.

I’d be happy to discuss these reports and Manhattan’s real estate picture in greater detail. Please call or email me to set up an appointment. You can reach me at either (crystal.greencr@gmail.com). I would also welcome the opportunity to discuss your 2012 real estate needs and plans.

I look forward to hearing from you.

For apartment landlords, 2011 was grand indeed

The Manhattan residential rental market ended 2011 with a bang.

Rents in the fourth quarter were up solidly from year-earlier levels, according to market reports released Thursday. The median Manhattan monthly rent of $3,145 for all sizes of apartments was the highest median since the fourth quarter of 2006, when median rents reached $3,265, according to the quarterly report by Prudential Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Inc. Meanwhile, median net effective rent jumped 9.5% to $3,121 from the fourth quarter of 2010, as landlords dialed back on concessions like a month of free rent.
Separately, brokerage Citi Habitats reported that the average Manhattan rent rose 6.2% to $3,322 a month last year.


Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120112/REAL_ESTATE/120119961#ixzz1jHUabGqr

Brooklyn and outer-borough sales outperform Manhattan

Outer borough housing markets hold up better than Manhattan’s: REBNY


January 11, 2012 10:00AM

Houses near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

In an unusual twist, home prices in the outer boroughs held up better than those in Manhattan in an overall dreadful fourth quarter, according to the latest figures from the Real Estate Board of New York cited by the Wall Street Journal.

While the median price in Manhattan tumbled 8.5 from the prior year quarter to $750,000, prices actually inched up by 2.9 percent in the Bronx to $350,00 and 1.4 percent in Brooklyn to $473,000. And while the median prices in Queens and Staten Island fell 4.8 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, that’s still less than the declines in Manhattan. Citywide, the price drop measured 2.3 percent.
Read full story here: http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/01/11/outer-borough-housing-markets-outperform-manhattans/

How to land an apartment in NYC

Getting Started

Renters Should Be Sprinters

AT first blush, it doesn’t make much sense: If you know you’ll need an apartment in New York in several months, why can’t you start a serious search now, rather than wait until your move-in date is just a few weeks away?

The short window of opportunity for an apartment hunt is a fact of life in the city. In large part, it’s a function of limited supply and high demand — landlords believe that the greater the number who see an apartment, the more rent it can command. And renters may not want to commit ahead of time, fearful of missing out on something better or cheaper.

Read the full Story here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/realestate/getting-started-why-renting-is-such-a-mad-dash.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

While many buyers/sellers sit on the fence; New York rental market is once again becoming a "landlord's market"

Manhattan Rents Jump as New Yorkers Stay Put

Manhattan apartment rents climbed 4.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier as tenants opted to renew leases in a tightening market, leaving home-seekers to compete for fewer vacancies.
The median effective rent, or what tenants pay after landlord-sponsored incentives, increased to $2,970 a month from $2,831 a year earlier, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. New leases declined 6.9 percent to 7,998, and the number of listings on the market dropped 1.9 percent to 4,605.
Stricter mortgage-lending standards and weak consumer confidence are limiting demand for home purchases, leading to increased competition for rentals, according to Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based Miller Samuel. Tenants are staying put as rents rise and a limited supply of three- and four-bedroom apartments prevents them from trading up, he said.

The interior view of a model apartment is shown in New York City. Photographer: Rinze Van Brug via Bloomberg

Read Full Story Here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-13/manhattan-apartment-rents-jump-as-more-new-yorkers-stay-put.html

5 % Of Americans Plan to Buy a Home Next Year - NYTimes.com

5 Pct. Of Americans Plan to Buy a Home Next Year - NYTimes.com