RENTERS BEWARE: RENTS COULD SPIKE UP AS INTEREST RATES RISE

Posted by Leonard Steinberg, president of COMPASS, on March 7th, 2015 As unemployment figures continue to drop, the likelihood of rising interest rates strengthens……and this may cause a spike in pricing as buyers rush to buy to capitalize on the current low (but rising) interest rates. Rising prices may force some to turn to renting,… [Read More]

CATCH-UP!

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 26th, 2012 This morning Ben Bernanke spoke on the subject of the economy:  his conclusion was that the improving employment and growth figures were a product of CATCH-UP. We can see the same thing clearly happening in the luxury Manhattan real estate market. The above picture shows a line… [Read More]

WHERE ARE THE JOBS…..OR WHERE ARE THE SKILLED WORKERS?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 15th, 2011 With real unemployment soaring closer to 20%, unemployment has become the key problem in resolving our fiscal woes. Unemployed people cannot spend the way employed people do and the economy is suffering mostly from lack of demand. The saddest part of this story is that there are indeed… [Read More]

IS THE ANSWER TO U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE NAME STEVE JOBS?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 6, 2011 With Steve Job’s passing, certainly one of the greatest losses of 2011, it may be a good time to look at his company as a case study for the future of other companies in the USA. I write this on a MAC, own an I-pad, I-pod and… [Read More]

GRIDLOCK HIGH TECH COMES TO MANHATTAN: MAN vs. TECH

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 19, 2011 The traffic clogged heart of Manhattan is getting a state-of-the-art bypass operation — with city engineers now directing Midtown traffic flow by typing a few keys in a Queens control room. Mayor Bloomberg yesterday launched the first-of-its-kind, real-time, congestion-busting system, which allows the engineers to control traffic lights… [Read More]

NEW YORK CONSTRUCTION COSTS/ECONOMY SET TO RISE?

Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 8th, 2011 The past few weeks have been a hive of activity with developers snapping up development sites throughout the city: yes, the new development market is waking up and it is waking up with a LOUD BANG. These are some of the projects in the pipeline:  The Drake… [Read More]

NEW YORK ADDS MORE JOBS IN AUGUST.

The city’s faster-than-expected recovery continued in August:  the local economy added 6,500 private sector jobs, continuing to surpass the nation’s growth rate. Jobs were added mostly in the real estate and banking arenas. New York’s August unemployment rate held steady at 9.4%, according to a report released Thursday by the state Department of Labor. The… [Read More]

JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE – SURPRISING?

The unemployment rate for college graduates hovers around 4%, yet it is more than double for those with limited education. AP reports to-day about the jobless claims rise, yet to-day again on the cover of the New York Times, an article is written about the amazing new technology to invite attendees to FASHION WEEK in… [Read More]

HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT? IT’S ABOUT THE REAL ESTATE!

Unemployment is very high, yet many employers are finding it extremely difficult to fill certain jobs. It is estimated that unemployment amongst the very skilled is actually rather low: We know unemployment amongst the highly educated is definitely low. In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, an article tries to establish what is causing this. Employers and economists… [Read More]

THE TWO USA ECONOMIES: HERMES vs. H+M

In to-day’s  New York Post, a story talks about the mounting evidence that there are two US economies operating side by side. They are correct. While Main Street consumers struggle with high unemployment and mainstream retailers are forced to mark down merchandise to spark even mid-single digit sales gains, the luxury market is enjoying flush… [Read More]