Friday, September 23, 2011

New York Market Report Sept 2011

Manhattan, New York real estate is an exception to the challenges facing the American economy.  While the US's credit rating has been downgraded and unemployment is still high, New York Magazine's article "New York Exceptionalism"  points to data that show Manhattan real estate is continuing its improvement.   


Reasons Manhattan property continues to improve are:

1.  Foreign buyers, especially from China and Brazil, are still coming in.  REIS, an analytics firm, confirms "large transactions that seem to defy gravity".  For example, a penthouse unit on First Avenue (not Fifth Avenue) just sold for $11.02 million.

2.  Number of contracts signed, using a 30 day moving average metric, is steady at 600.  That's close to historical average.  Higher than post Lehman and lower than the peak.

3.  There's a 7 month supply of inventory now.  Compared to 3 months during the bubble and 1-2 years' of supply during the bust of 2009.

4.  Number of broken contracts and foreclosures on the decline as shown in the graphs.

5.  More banks are re-lending on jumbo mortgages.

As a New York property agent , I often tell clients Manhattan is a totally different city compared to the average US city.  For example, the average price of a house in the US is $170,000.  In Manhattan, the average price is about $1.3 million.  "US-wide" indicators don't necessarily apply to Manhattan.

Visit us at Castle Avenue Partners - Manhattan investment property

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