In this week’s report on the Manhattan $4m+ property market, Donna Olshan made two observations that should concern all of us in the Real Estate industry: 1.”The average number of days on the market was 398 compared to 283 for the same week in 2015.” Most of the contracts signed this past week were re-sales, unlike… [Read More]
Artificial Intelligence?
Are New York Quarterly reports delivering Artificial Intelligence? Yesterday’s (April Fool’s Day) First Quarter Manhattan real estate market reports touted radical home price escalations just as the entire real estate industry is adjusting to a ‘new normal’ comprised of slower absorption, adjusted asking prices and more negotiability. This further highlights just how severely quarterly reports… [Read More]
SUBURBANIZED CITY
Posted by Leonard Steinberg, president of COMPASS, on March 14th, 2015 Traditionally, couples who lived in New York City migrated to the suburbs, or at least to the Upper East Side, to raise a family. This has changed drastically over the past decade. With the gentrification of Downtown neighborhoods, schools, parks, services, amenities and property… [Read More]
MANHATTANIZING THE WORLD
Posted by Leonard Steinberg, Urban Compass, on July 18th, 2014 The other day while observing the views from the West Side of Manhattan across the Hudson River to New Jersey, it was striking to see how similar the New Jersey skyline looked compared to Manhattan’s. Does Manhattan dictate the ‘look’ of a large city throughout… [Read More]
ARE LONDON BUYER-BLUES BEING MIRRORED IN NEW YORK?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg, President of Urban Compass, on July 8th, 2014 London is experiencing some BUYER-BLUES on the very high end and today its reported that home-price gains in London’s most-expensive neighborhoods are trailing the rest of the city because buyers are deterred by high asking prices and the possibility of new taxes. Values in… [Read More]
THE SOLUTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING? BUILD LOTS!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 15th, 2014 The answer to New York’s affordable housing problem may ultimately be solved by building LOTS: If you need any evidence of this, think back to the 2007/2008 recession where masses of housing stock sat idle…..and resulted in prices dropping, often dramatically. Or look today towards China…. In… [Read More]
MAYOR DE BLASIO’S NEXT 100 DAYS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 13th, 2014 Many have asked my opinion of Mayor De Blasio’s first 100 days in office: I was lambasted by many for vocalizing my support of him……surely someone in real estate could not support this obviously liberal mayor for New York City? Well, I did. And I did so with good… [Read More]
MANHATTAN CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on February 13, 2014 Have you noticed recently just how bad the traffic has become in Manhattan? It seems every block has at least 2-3 constructions sites, some even more. These construction sites require bringing in large equipment and trucks that congest and cause traffic chaos. Most have a construction shed… [Read More]
MAYOR DE BLUNDER? JANUS SNOWSTORM CLEANUP DISAPPOINTING
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 22nd, 2014 I have received far too many calls today about New Yorkers angry at the City, and especially Mayor De Blasio, for the dreadful post-storm clean-up: why is it that the streets of Manhattan were so poorly ploughed? A visiting Chicago resident said ‘this would never happen in Chicago’…..TODAY SHOW Al… [Read More]
MAYOR DE BLASIO: THE FIRST WEEK
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 8th, 2014 Mayor de Blasio has been in office now for just one week: many are already saying “I told you so!” after the rather divisive and disrespectful tone of his inauguration and the disappointing snow clean-up of Manhattan that was relegated to second priority after the outer boroughs, even though… [Read More]