New York Residential Real Estate Leveling in Areas

While everyone wants to spread the news about real estate in New York City, there’s a big wide world outside the bright lights. I recently asked a friend of mine from New York to tell me something exciting about real estate in and she confirmed that like the rest of the nation, New York home-owners are all struggling – from upstate, downstate, the Allegheny Mountains, the Adirondacks, and all over.

“Unfortunately the only thing we're hearing up here is, ‘We're selling our home and renting in order to stay above water.’ The people I'm talking about are career couples with no children who are in their early fifties. They are worried about job security and have taken huge losses in the markets. Not such a cheerful story I'm afraid, but the only thing in real estate in our realm.”

Key in Sheri’s description is the fact that people are selling. The markets in New York are gaining a little traction, though some areas have an almost two-year absorption rate (the amount of time it will take to sell the current listings based on the number of houses sold per month and if no more are listed). Real estate is gaining traction because the average number of days on the market is dropping.

For example, real estate agent Natasha Pazdzerskaia recently reported that in Somers, New York the average days homes were on the market in January 2010 was 163. In January 2009 it was 190 and January 2008 the number of days was 169. In Woodbury, Andy Yakubovsky’s data supports the same findings. In January 2010, the average days on the market were 85, 130 in 2009, and 123 in 2008.

Of course all real estate is local, so these numbers can vary widely in different areas.

Although my friend describes the fears and struggles faced by New Yorkers in today’s economy, the job market will return and with it so will consumer confidence. And remember, for homes to be selling, someone is buying. Hopefully the buyers will again be regular people pursuing the American Dream.



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Getting Real with New York Real Estate

A friend of mine moved to New York City several years ago. In my mind, I pictured her as a glamorous working girl who would hop on the subway every morning after grabbing a quick coffee at the corner bagel shop. I was certain her lunches were filled with window shopping and that she spent her evenings watching famous plays on Broadway.

Her own reality was far different than what I imagined, though. She was unable to afford living in the city, so found a nice apartment across the river in New Jersey. Plays were an important part of her life, but she only went every few months, as disposable income permitted.

Real estate in New York City is far different than in other areas. For example, if you wanted to live in the Upper West Side – in The Dakota perhaps – the three bedroom, two bath home where West Side Story was conceived is available now for just under $6 million. If that’s too rich for you, a one-bath studio apartment on West End can be yours for just $435,000. The operative word is “studio” where there is on separate bedroom. The almost half-million dollar purchase price does not cover the monthly maintenance fee of $964, which does include utilities.

A recent report by Prudential’s Douglas Elliman shows housing prices have doubled in the last ten years in Manhattan. For example, a decade ago the average price of a home was $710,000. The average price this year is almost $1.4 million. However, prices are coming down as indicated by the 12 percent DROP from the previous year.

With this kind of up and down activity on the home buying/selling front, the good news is there are real estate agents available and ready to help you find real estate to rent. This is a phenomenon that we’re starting to see across the nation, but it has been perfected by New York agents. Often renters will be required to pay a finder’s fee, but overall rents are dropping along with home prices.

The least expensive place to buy an apartment in New York, as reported by Habitat New York, is Uptown, Brooklyn or Queens. Here, studio apartments start at $1200 and three bedrooms start at $3,000. The most expensive are in the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Midtown apartments that start at $1,600 per month and go upwards of $12,000 per month.

If you’re ready to take a bite out of the big apple, be prepared to pay the apple’s weight in gold to buy or plan a good commute for the most affordable apartment rentals.


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