Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 11th, 2014 The other day I witnessed the past and the future within a few blocks of one another in New York: The first visit was to the US Post office where I had to buy one postage stamp (I know, ridiculous!). Entering the office felt like a step… [Read More]
BROOKLYN HOUSING ‘AFFORDABLE’, BUT INFRASTRUCTURE IS WEAK
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 10th, 2014 Brooklyn continues its climb in desirability with both rent and sale prices rising consistently. Inventories have dropped to a six-year low. Brooklyn apartment rents rose to a record in March and new leases more than doubled, extending a surge in housing demand that was once seen as a… [Read More]
BILLIONAIRE BIDDING WAR: $102 MILLION LOS ANGELES HOME SALE.
Posted on April 1st, 2014 Fleur de Lys, a 50,000sf estate in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles has sold for $102 million, making it the most expensive home ever sold in Los Angeles County, yet at $ 2,040/sf its a relative bargain compared to most luxury New York real estate…..especially considering the antique… [Read More]
NEIMAN MARCUS COMING TO THE HIGHLINE PARK AND HUDSON YARDS?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 26th, 2014 Rumor has it that Neiman Marcus is coming to the Hudson Yards at 10th Avenue and 30th Street just where the Highline Park turns towards the Javitz Center.
61,000 NEW NEW YORKERS: WHAT ABOUT SEMI-AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 26th, 2014 Many keep asking: where do all these New York buyers and renters come from? While much of it can be attributed to the creation of new households and ‘natural’ selling trends (death, birth, marriage, divorce, desire for change, re-location, etc), equally important are the numbers of people… [Read More]
HOW MAYOR DEBLASIO CAN GET BI-PARTISAN LOVE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 24th, 2014 Mayor De Blasio is experiencing a rocky start in his role as Mayor of New York City. His early focus on terminating charter schools and horse carriages and raising taxes for Pre-K schooling has resulted in angry citizens on both the left and the right. Here is… [Read More]
IS LUXURY USA BILINGUAL COMMUNICATION CHINESE?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 21st, 2014 SOTHEBY’S International Realty distributed a rather impressive large LUXURY SHOWCASE booklet in the Wall Street Journal this morning: while the content was good with many lavish suburban properties advertised for sale, and some statistics about the luxury market and consumer, what was most telling was how bilingual… [Read More]
MANSION TAX FRAUD? HMMMMMMM……
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 20th, 2014 Mansion Tax is imposed on properties sold in New York State costing $1 million or more: has anyone seen a mansion anywhere in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx for $1 million? In other words, this MANSION TAX is simply a disguise for another tax that hurts the… [Read More]
THE DIGITAL IRON CURTAIN: IS WEB FREEDOM IN DANGER?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 20th, 2014 Are the freedoms of the WEB under attack ever since Edward Snowden became the whistle blower on US government web surveillance? It appears so. As the do-gooders of the world celebrated Snowden’s ‘courage’ for revealing that the US government closely monitored activities on the web (was that… [Read More]
DOES GOVERNMENT STIMULUS FUEL HOUSING VALUES?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 17th, 2014 Does Government stimulus fuel housing values? Apparently in the UK with its ‘HELP TO BUY” program the answer is YES: London housing prices surged 2.1% from February to a record this month, as the buoyant outlook spread to other parts of the country: annualized this equates to… [Read More]