New York City, the nation’s largest city with about 8.4 million people, continued to grow steadily. The city’s population expanded 0.5% in 2009, compared with 0.4% a year earlier but down from 0.7% in 2007. The recession has prevented people moving to the suburbs to buy homes. This keeps people in larger cities and draws… [Read More]
FAST REBOUND or WISHFUL THINKING?
May unemployment dips to 9.6% from 9.8% in April and the city’s workforce climbs to over 4 million as economy rebounds quickly. The city’s workforce climbed to 4,001,100 in May, the highest level since at least 1976 and probably the highest level ever, according to the mayor’s office. The city continued its rebound in May… [Read More]
THE ROLLER COASTER DECADE
I believe the two thousand and teen years will be the ROLLER COASTER DECADE. Already we are witnessing a volatility that has rarely been seen before in our history, and I fear this is the new normal. We are seeing vast fluctuations in the Equity Markets, often fueled by our new electronic economy, a system… [Read More]
FEDERAL TAXATION STUPIDITY – IT GETS WORSE IN 2013!
Is the Federal Government blind, stupid, or worse, thoroughly corrupt? I suspect its all three. Why on earth do federal taxes make absolutely ZERO accounting for the cost-of-living in various cities? Is it accurate that $ 250,000.00 earned in Manhattan is the equivilant of earning $ 250,000.00 in Tulsa, Oklahoma or Albany, New York? NO!… [Read More]
EASTER SURPRISE! OR WAS IT EXPECTED?
In this month’s LUXURYLETTER, (www.luxuryletter.com) it was reported that Manhattan’s real estate pricing and activity picked up notably over the same period last year. Because LUXURYLETTER addresses the luxury market over $ 1 million, the figures are somewhat different to what is being widely reported…. The other reports that came out from the major real… [Read More]
TARP PROFITS! TEA PARTY TO CELEBRATE?
The U.S. government, which announced Monday that it plans to slowly unload its 27% stake in Citigroup Inc. over the remainder of this year, currently stands to pocket an $8 billion profit on the investment from last September. That’s a remarkable 30% return in six months, or triple the return generated by the average hedge… [Read More]
WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? BOX OFFICE BS?
It was announced to-day that the cost of a movie theater ticket will rise from anywhere between 5% and 25%….this after a record-breaking 2009 where profits surged over $ 10 billion. Hmmmmmm….. This will probably affect more American’s pockets than any tax of any kind. So where is the outrage? There was outrage about the… [Read More]
NEW HABITS OF THE WEALTHY BUYER
The majority of wealthy investors rely on their own expertise over the advice of wealth managers, according to a new survey, which will come as a fresh blow to an industry still reeling from massive outflows of client money. Real estate group Knight Frank and US-based Citi Private Bank asked high-net-worth respondents to their 2010… [Read More]
NEW YORK: THE BEST GLOBAL CITY?
New York fares well in comparison to other global capitals following the economic downturn of 2008, according to Cities of Opportunity, an annual report on what makes cities thrive, released in a report by the Partnership for New York City and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The report analyzes how twenty-one global cities perform as centers of business opportunity, according to… [Read More]
IS MANHATTAN DIFFERENT?
Nationally existing home sales dipped 0.6 percent month-over-month to an annual rate of 5.02 million units, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday. The drop last month was a touch less than market expectations for a fall to 5.0 million units. The data showed weakness at a crucial time for the housing market with… [Read More]