Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 16th, 2013 It’s official in the mainstream press(although looking in the rear-view mirror is often a bit late): housing prices across the board are rising: Prices for single-family homes climbed in almost 88 percent of U.S. cities in the fourth quarter as the housing recovery broadened. The best-performing metro… [Read More]
BIG DEALS ARE BACK!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 15th, 2013 Wall Street is still reeling from the re-birth of the BIG DEAL, where this week Warren Buffet and a Brazilian group swooped in to buy out HEINZ. Similar confidence in the BIG DEAL is being seen in the New York luxury real estate market where big players… [Read More]
WAR ON THE RICH, OR WAR ON MEDIOCRITY?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 14th, 2013 Is the new campaign in Switzerland (of all places!)to restrict excessive executive compensation to limit and even punish publicly traded companies that reward executives with huge wages and bonuses regardless of performance an additional attack on the rich, or is it a smart way to minimize wasteful… [Read More]
MORE PROOF OF LUXOFLATION: HERMES FOURTH QUARTER SALES SOAR 22%
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 11th, 2013 Hermes posted its 4th quarter results for 2012: the maker of uber-luxury, hyper-priced fashion goods and accessories showed sales increased 22%. Rolls-Royce has achieved its best sales in its 108-year history, with the world’s mega-rich buying up 3,575 Phantom and Ghost models during 2012. More evidence that the… [Read More]
STATE OF THE UNION: RENEWABLE ENERGY IS CHEAPER IN AUSTRALIA!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 10th, 2013 In the wake of soaring temperatures that made it impossible for some residents in the Australian outback to pump gas, really good news is coming to the energy market….just in time for Obama’s State of the Union Address possibly where the likelihood of green energy talk is almost… [Read More]
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT NEW YORK REAL ESTATE PRICING WAS ON THE RISE…..
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 10th, 2013 Just when you thought real estate prices could not go higher in New York, we hear of real estate pricing estimates in London, a city that already makes New York seem like a bargain…. now news comes that the average price of a London home will climb… [Read More]
NEW YORK TIMES STORY: BEGGING OWNERS TO SELL
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 10th, 2013 This morning’s New York Times addresses the subject of how the low housing inventory in Manhattan is leading brokers to desperate measures to convince homeowners to sell….they are not exaggerating! The inventory is at historically low levels, and the buyer volume is at record high levels. Open… [Read More]
THE NEXT BIG THING IN NEW DEVELOPMENT – AutoClose?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 9th, 2013 We just started marketing 150 CHARLES STREET, and to say the response to the building is overwhelming would be a complete under-statement: I am stunned that there are so many buyers with so much money anxious to commit to a floorplan and renderings and wait over 2… [Read More]
NO DOWNPAYMENT MORTGAGES – THEY'RE BRINGING STUPID BACK?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 6th, 2013 Is the stupidity that helped cause the previous recession returning? It appears so, although this time no downpayment mortgages will initially only be available to the wealthy. It’s 100% financing—the same strategy that pushed many homeowners into foreclosure during the housing bust. But Banks say these loans… [Read More]
CAN UNREGULATED GROWTH KILL?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 4th, 2013 While we tend to complain about the quality of air in New York, many things are being done that are truly effective in reducing harmful emissions. Aside from the electric hybrid busses, converting building boilers away from that black smoke belching oil, hybrid government vehicles, etc some… [Read More]