So you felt sluggish through the Summer heat because of the heat? Think again. A city Department of Health study on summer air quality released yesterday showed a troubling finding: Even quieter neighborhoods that don’t have New York’s infamous crowds, traffic and skyscrapers suffer from high levels of smog…..and this bad air quality contributes greatly… [Read More]
THE FUTURE OF FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC?
While politicians bury their heads in the sand and focus on pointing fingers for blame, building mosques and Bristol Palin, the single largest problem our economy is dealing with is still housing. Until we have a solid plan in place to clean up the housing mess and a solidly revised plan for the future of financing housing, the… [Read More]
ONE HYDE PARK: THE MOST EXPENSIVE APARTMENT IN THE WORLD SELLS.
And you thought New York was expensive? Think again. A six-bedroom, two-floor penthouse in the One Hyde Park development in Knightsbridge, London has sold for £140 million — equivalent to around $220 million — making it the world’s highest priced apartment sale, according to THE REAL DEAL. The buyer, who remains anonymous, will enjoy views of the London skyline,… [Read More]
3.5% Downpayment insanity?
The FHA has come out to guarantee mortgage loans on a few new buildings in Manhattan: While the idea is brilliant, and long overdue, the plan is a perfect example of how governments can take a great idea and muck it up really badly. As we exit (very slowly and grindingly and uncerytainly) from the worst… [Read More]
Luxury New York real estate is invading the media…. Supposedly, according to the NEW YORK POST, Brown Harris Stevens brokers, Brenda Powers and Elizabeth Sample, made it past the first cut of candidates to potentially join the cast of “The Real Housewives of New York City.” Kim G…..watch out! What about Jackie, Dolly? Hello????
EQUITY MARKETS DIP: REMEMBER WE LIVE IN THE ROLLER COASTER ERA.
Over the short term the market looks vulnerable to a correction. The last couple of weeks of bad economic news have been neglected because the bulls are hoping that Ben Bernanke will very soon set the market afire with a new batch of quantitative easing. We have entered a mind set of perverse logic: The weaker the… [Read More]
STUYVESANT TOWN-PETER COOPER VILLAGE -15 Cents on the Dollar
In this morning’s POST, it is reported that New York hedge fund honcho Bill Ackman has set his sights on the beleaguered Manhattan apartment complex Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village — with an ambitious plan to wrest control of the 11,227-unit complex by transforming the infamous rental property into a giant co-op. The 44-year-old investment guru’s… [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 NEXT MANHATTAN? SUB ZERO LIVING: FROM AMENITY TO….?
Could this be the next Manhattan, a take on Manhattan’s quintessential status symbol the SUB ZERO? A piece of ice four times the size of Manhattan island has broken away from an ice shelf in Greenland, according to scientists in the U.S. The 260 square-kilometer (100 square miles) ice island separated from the Petermann Glacier in… [Read More]
WE ENTER THE ERA OF THE FLASH-CRASH!
The recent equity market flash-crash was determined to be a product of the computer-run systems we rely so heavily on. The flash crash produced a 1000-plus point market drop. And worse, we should expect another flash-crash in the future. With our lives increasingly over-taken by computers, the FLASH CRASH could happen not only on Wall… [Read More]