Indicators from Wall Street would say that what is probably the defining source of Manhattan’s luxury real estate market should be in good shape going forward….. The financial work force in New York has shrunk by more than 28,000 since its peak in January 2008, but is still slightly above its level in 2003 after… [Read More]
FORECLOSURES HIT THE RICH
More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic. In an article in this morning’s TIMES, the point is made that the housing bust we are witnessing right now is not… [Read More]
NEW YORK POWER CRISIS
With the current heat wave straining the power supply all across the North East, maybe now is the time to look closer at the accute power needs of New York, not to mention the entire USA. We have more energy on this earth than we could ever use, yet because of political agenda’s, how that… [Read More]
MANHATTAN COMMERCIAL SPACE VACANCY RATES DROP FOR FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS
The un-occupancy rate in New York fell to 10.8 percent from 11.6 percent at the end of March according to Cushman Wakefield. Rents declined for the seventh straight quarter to $54.31 a square foot from $55.38. I guess when banks are hiring 6,800 employees in 3 months, you need space….
ARE PROFITS HURTING CAPITALISM?
To-days NEW YORK TIMES featured an op-ed addressing a subject we have spoken about many times: the stupidity of quarterly thinking. It is rampant on Wall Street and has driven corporations to focus purely on quarterly results at the expense of long term strategy. This same quarterly mentality has manifested itself in the real estate… [Read More]
LARGE CITIES KEEP GROWING
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]