APT. SCARCITY HITS HOME

[billyblancoNYC]

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/17279.htm

APT. SCARCITY HITS HOME

By ANNE BECKER


February 4, 2004 -- There's no place like home - if you can find one, that is.
The number of Manhattan apartments for sale has been slashed in half so far this year, a new report says.

The Corcoran Group, one of the city's biggest real-estate firms, said there are currently just over 6,000 properties for sale in Manhattan - the lowest number in five years.

At this time last year, about 13,000 properties were listed, Corcoran said.

"Everybody wants to buy and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down," said Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman. "All the brokers are walking around going, 'I have nothing to sell.' "

Record low interest rates and the return this year of Wall Street bonuses have caused the dearth of inventory as eager home hunters want to buy before rates creep up, experts say.

The average Wall Street bonus last year was $66,800 - up from $48,500 in 2002.



The dwindling supply of apartments has prompted prices to skyrocket.

More than 35 percent of the apartments Corcoran sold in December went at or above their asking prices.

The average price of a Manhattan condo was a staggering $1.104 million in 2003 - up 6 percent from last year's average of $1.037 million, according to Corcoran's fourth-quarter report.

The average three-bedroom commanded a whopping $2.891 million last year - 24 percent more than it did in 2002. Low inventory has also sparked fierce bidding wars as desperate buyers scoop up prime pads the moment they hit the market, brokers report.

"Buyers are ready to pounce," Liebman said. "They're educated, they're anxious and they want to move quickly.

For example, one of the company's clients got stuck in a bidding war for five different $1 million apartments during the past three weeks.

The client bid up to $150,000 over the asking price on each of the properties - and still didn't snag any of them.

[Ninjahedge]

Sh*t.

Me and the GF have been looking for a bit now.

Great to hear that all the Wall Street numbnuts that earned more on a bonus than I got as my FREAKING SALARY are buying up all that is remotely affordable and/or desirable in NYC. :evil:

That, combined with the idiots that bought beyond their means and do not have enough money to really get out of whatthey have bought themselves into....

I guess the thing that frustrates me the most is the disparity between the prices here, and just a short (but still not commutable) distance away in NJ and CT. I know that the city has more to offer, but how much more will the market bear with these overinflated prices before it cracks?

Also, with all this desire to get affordable housing, or (ironically) affordable Luxury Housing, why are there still SO many areas in the city that are pitifully decrepid? (West side down around the 20's is so-so, but you go a little higher, around PA and ICH!)

Ah well.

[Zoe]

Ninja, have you tried looking in Hoboken? It's the same situation, no inventory. I have freinds trying to buy in the 'boken and they are only seeing 1 to 3 places a week because there is nothing to show. Yet there are at least a dozen new condo buildings going up at any time.

[Ninjahedge]

Yeppers. I have an apartment there now. On Washington between 1st and 2nd.

A little over 600SF railroad for $732 a month. (All buildings there built before 197-something are rent controled).

I have looked at some of the things there, but the idiots are out. Even places that are not worth it sell within a week of open house (some look nice until you look close and realize the pre-fab is 5 years old and only has anothe 3 before problems start costing much $$)

One place had water-stain paint markings on the ceiling, unfinished moldings, doorsils that did not fit, cracks all around the windows (the facade was moving independantly of the window housings forming cracks that let drafts in) and the door header in the front was actually unfinished, with the tar-paper behind it still visible through a 3" gap above the front entranceway.

Less than 1000SF and asking abour $489K

It was sold a week after the open house.

[krulltime]

Chelsea Apartment Inventory Drops


June 2004

73% decline in available units since last March, report says
By Stuart W. Elliott

With a growing influx of families complementing the area’s gay population, Chelsea has become among the tightest markets in the city, according to a recent study by Halstead.

The neighborhood has undergone a 73 percent drop in inventory of condos, coops and townhouses for sale since last March, according the report.

Apartments in the $401,000 to $650,000 range experienced the most drastic decline in inventory - 83 percent, the report said. More expensive properties - condos and coops above $2.5 million - saw a milder decline of 46 percent, and townhouse inventory has shrunk by 21 percent.

"Across all prices and sizes, there has been an enormous drop in apartments on the market," said Halstead vice president Rich Hamilton, who prepared the study. "It’s an absolute desert of availability."

The study tracked the actual number of units available for sale between 14th and 34th Streets, from Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River on a biweekly basis from March 15, 2003 until this May 1.

An earlier report by Corcoran found a 50 percent decline in citywide listings from a year ago.

Christopher Mathieson, partner and co-owner at JC DeNiro, which has an office in Chelsea, couldn’t confirm the inventory figures, but called the neighborhood "the most dynamic in the city."

"The environment is changing rapidly," he said. "It’s become a lot more middle class. It’s a lot dressier, with a lot more shopping opportunities."

A recent story in The New York Times noted the growing number of families in the area, and Mathieson agreed that the neighborhood is becoming an increasing mix of gays, young people and families.

While Chelsea's current incarnation is now about 20 years old, since pioneers began to migrate there from the West Village, Mathison said what is happening now is "the beginning of its gentrification," rather than the end.

Of particular note going forward, he said, is the rezoning of West Chelsea from 14th to 30th Streets between 10th and 11th Avenues, with the rezone expected to be adopted at the beginning of next year.

"The city predicts there will be 4,200 new residential units there in the next 10 years," said Mathieson. "I think it will probably happen in the next five years."

There are also the plans for the High Line, the abandoned elevated railway which will be likely be turned into a residential park promenade. Fifty designs will be narrowed down to four at a benefit on July 14 hosted by Diane Von Furstenberg, Mathieson said.

At least three new residential developments center on and around 23rd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. Also the headquarters of Barry Diller's Interactive Corp., to be designed by Frank Gehry, is being built in the neighborhood.

Mathieson said the fact that only commercial development is now permitted in the central Meat Packing District area - the developers of the Hotel Gansevoort had initially sought to build a residential development there - means Chelsea will become an even more likely destination for those wanting to live downtown.

"This will push more residential into Chelsea," he said.


Copyright 2003-2004 The Real Deal.

[NewYorkYankee]

See, this is why I think they need to demolish much of the older 3-6 story buildings and build taller ones with more units.

[Schadenfrau]

Where would you suggest the people in the 3-6 story buildings live, then?

[krulltime]

There is no need to destroy 3-6 stroy buildings (yet). There are still plenty of land in the area. Especially on north Chelsea and closer to the river.

[NewYorkYankee]

Krull, this is true, plus the underdeveloped land in the other parts of the city (BK,BX etc), but alot of people want to live in the heart of NY, Manhattan.

Scha-I believe that these people could live elsewhere temporarily while the building is constructed, and when it is constructed they could get first choice and a lower price than other buyers. Just an idea

[Schadenfrau]

That's just not feasible for many reasons: low vacancy rates, existing leases, zoning laws etc.

[krulltime]

ILUVNYC, People could not just live elsewhere temporarily...It wouldn't make any sence. Either they are in or they are out. That is the way it works. :(

The only people who wins are the developer and the landlord of the 3-6 story building.