Posted by Leonard Steinberg, president of COMPASS, on June 20th, 2015 Two aspects of the last recession…..low down payments and speculators…..are back. Mortgages offered by lenders that have down payments of 10% or less are becoming more common: In the first quarter of 2015, 51% of home buyers with a non-jumbo mortgage (more than 136,000)… [Read More]
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER
Posted on June 2nd, 2014 Dear Friends: Today marks a historic day as I begin my role as President of URBAN COMPASS. We have always been at the forefront of the New York Real Estate industry, always with an eye towards the future of real estate: in URBAN COMPASS we see the future. URBAN COMPASS… [Read More]
THE AMENITY NEXT DOOR
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 3rd, 2013 Many buildings being developed in the luxury Manhattan real estate market these days would not be complete without a host of very impressive amenities, including swimming pools, gyms, garages, playrooms, etc, etc. This makes it difficult sometimes for smaller buildings to compete. While many of these amenities… [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]
CATCH-UP!
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 26th, 2012 This morning Ben Bernanke spoke on the subject of the economy: his conclusion was that the improving employment and growth figures were a product of CATCH-UP. We can see the same thing clearly happening in the luxury Manhattan real estate market. The above picture shows a line… [Read More]
ONE 57: THE LATEST ADDITION TO THE UBER-LUXURY MANHATTAN MARKET
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 19th, 2011 The other night I was invited to the launch of EXTELL’s newest addition to the New York skyline, One 57, the Christian de Portzamparc-designed 90 story, 1,000ft tall Tower located at 157 West 57th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Towering above the Time Warner Center, Trump’s One Central… [Read More]
THE CHARMLESSNESS OF MANHATTAN REAL ESTATE NEW DEVELOPMENT
Have you noticed how the bulk of newly built New York residential buildings possess as much charm as Ann Coulter or Al Gore?
NEW YORK CONSTRUCTION COSTS/ECONOMY SET TO RISE?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on July 8th, 2011 The past few weeks have been a hive of activity with developers snapping up development sites throughout the city: yes, the new development market is waking up and it is waking up with a LOUD BANG. These are some of the projects in the pipeline: The Drake… [Read More]
SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on April 13, 2011 The world is learning the painful reliance we have on one another where because of Japan’s horrible disaster, many components manufactured there are slowing down the production of products made elsewhere around the globe. These supply disruptions affect pricing in a meaningful way. A similar supply disruption… [Read More]