Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Manhattan Housing Affordability Index
The National Association of Realtors publishes a monthly housing affordability index to give a sense of national housing prices vs median income. For example, an index of 150 means the median family income is 150% of the income needed to qualify for the median priced house.
The index was started in 1971 and at that time, it was around 150. In May 2009, it was 171, close to the high of 179 set in April 2009. This means that the median family income in the US is 171% of the amount needed to qualify for a mortgage at the median price. Yeah - sounds good right?!
The index does have flaws.
1. Real estate is local - this means we need a localized index.
2. It tracks median family income. More members of the family may be working now compared to back in the 1970s.
But this index does give a sense on the median house price in the US.
For Manhattan, I'm going to do a quickie calculation. Let's say the median income is $100,000 (the most recent data from Census.gov is $64K back in 2007). The median price is $836K based on the latest 2Q'09 Miller Samuel report. From analysis, qualifying income is about 21 percent of the median home price which means the estimated qualifying income for Manhattan is $175,560. This leads to my estimate of housing affordability index for Manhattan of 56 (100,000/175,560 X 100) . The median income in Manhattan is only 56% of the income required to qualify for the median priced apartment.
Not even close to the national level of 171? Of course not. This is Manhattan.
The index was started in 1971 and at that time, it was around 150. In May 2009, it was 171, close to the high of 179 set in April 2009. This means that the median family income in the US is 171% of the amount needed to qualify for a mortgage at the median price. Yeah - sounds good right?!
The index does have flaws.
1. Real estate is local - this means we need a localized index.
2. It tracks median family income. More members of the family may be working now compared to back in the 1970s.
But this index does give a sense on the median house price in the US.
For Manhattan, I'm going to do a quickie calculation. Let's say the median income is $100,000 (the most recent data from Census.gov is $64K back in 2007). The median price is $836K based on the latest 2Q'09 Miller Samuel report. From analysis, qualifying income is about 21 percent of the median home price which means the estimated qualifying income for Manhattan is $175,560. This leads to my estimate of housing affordability index for Manhattan of 56 (100,000/175,560 X 100) . The median income in Manhattan is only 56% of the income required to qualify for the median priced apartment.
Not even close to the national level of 171? Of course not. This is Manhattan.
Friday, July 3, 2009
New York Real Estate News
Manhattan apartment sales down 50%
CNN's report started by saying the real estate bust has finally "clobbered super-pricey Manhattan home prices." Second quarter market reports released by the city's major brokerages show sales volume declined 50% compared to a year ago. Miller Samuel reports average price per square foot at $1,056, representing a 16% decline compared to last year. The median price of an apartment is now $836,000. Upside is that sales activity increased compared to the first quarter. This is driven by sales of studio and one bedroom apartments, both of which gained market share. A higher conforming loan limit of $729,750 and historically low rates helped as well.
Luxury market dives
The luxury market in Manhattan, defined as the top 10 percent of apartment sales, slummed. Compared to last year, average price per square foot declined 19% while number of sales declined 50% . Median price of a luxury apartment is now $3.66 million, down from $6.59 million in the first quarter. Currently it takes half a year to sell a luxury apartment.
Renters getting scammed while seeking a deal
While renters are seeking better deals from this down market, scammers are stealing from them. One such scam is called cash-for-key where the scammer takes photos of a legitimate rental and reposts it at a much lower price. The scammer then requires cash from eager renters in exchange for application form or keys. Sometimes, the scammer just takes application fees from multiple potential renters, all too eager to get the non-existent two bedroom for $1500. Students and out of town renters are particularly vulnerable.
Manhattan Rents
Rents in May 2009 are now lower than they were in 2007. Here’s a snapshot of rents at doorman buildings in May 2009 as compiled by the Real Estate Group.
Studios $2,332
1 Bedroom $3,299
2 Bedroom $5,112
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Manhattan Midtown East
Midtown East: from Fifth Avenue to the East River, from 42nd to 57th streets.
Midtown East is the combination of corporate headquarters and residential living. Citigroup, Chase, Boston Consulting Group, Unilever, Ferrari, Mercedes, Bloomingdale’s and Saks are amongst some of its corporate residents. In terms of residential, Midtown East is the location of prominent addresses such as The Plaza, Trump World Tower, Trump Tower (building in The Apprentice), Jumeirah Essex House, Beekman Place and Sutton Place.
Grand Central Station and the United Nations overlooking the East River are additional Midtown East icons. Many foreign consulates and permanent missions to the United Nations are in Midtown East because of proximity to the United Nations. Hence be prepared to see diplomats walking around the neighborhood dressed in their best walking on 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave.
Many Midtown East residents have the luxury of walking to work, to 5th Avenue for shopping, to Central Park for summer picnics.
Don’t want to be too close to corporate offices? Most residential buildings are east of 3rd Ave. Being an island, one block can mean the difference between being smack in the middle of Corporate America’s headquarters and a quieter residential neighborhood. There are even secret gardens with waterfalls that makes one forget being in midtown Manhattan.
The area has an abundance of restaurants and entertainment. NBC’s Today Show and CBS’s morning show both are in Midtown East. Other well known corporate residents are the Apple Store, Ferragamo and Prada.
Why live anywhere else? I too call Midtown East home and I love it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE26nRW7uZg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqOoTx60pCU
Midtown East is the combination of corporate headquarters and residential living. Citigroup, Chase, Boston Consulting Group, Unilever, Ferrari, Mercedes, Bloomingdale’s and Saks are amongst some of its corporate residents. In terms of residential, Midtown East is the location of prominent addresses such as The Plaza, Trump World Tower, Trump Tower (building in The Apprentice), Jumeirah Essex House, Beekman Place and Sutton Place.
Grand Central Station and the United Nations overlooking the East River are additional Midtown East icons. Many foreign consulates and permanent missions to the United Nations are in Midtown East because of proximity to the United Nations. Hence be prepared to see diplomats walking around the neighborhood dressed in their best walking on 2nd Ave and 3rd Ave.
Many Midtown East residents have the luxury of walking to work, to 5th Avenue for shopping, to Central Park for summer picnics.
Don’t want to be too close to corporate offices? Most residential buildings are east of 3rd Ave. Being an island, one block can mean the difference between being smack in the middle of Corporate America’s headquarters and a quieter residential neighborhood. There are even secret gardens with waterfalls that makes one forget being in midtown Manhattan.
The area has an abundance of restaurants and entertainment. NBC’s Today Show and CBS’s morning show both are in Midtown East. Other well known corporate residents are the Apple Store, Ferragamo and Prada.
Why live anywhere else? I too call Midtown East home and I love it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE26nRW7uZg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqOoTx60pCU
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Start Up science - graph
Start Up science from Y Combinator.
Ha ha ha .... quite accurate
Steps:
1. Tech crunch of initiation2. Wearing off of novelty
3. Trough of sorrow
4. Wiggles of false hope
5. Acquisition of liquidity
6. Spike of misconfigured Google analytics
7. Public - selling to biggest fool
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-start-up-guru-y-combinators-paul-graham.html
Monday, May 18, 2009
Interior Design for Small Spaces, from Observer Living expo
I attended the Observer Living 2009 event held at the Puck Building last Thursday 5/14/09 and greatly enjoyed the panelist session on Interior Design for Small Spaces. Interior Design is not my forte but I did take some good notes on pointers shared by panelists including Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler.
* Best item to brighten up an apartment: Pillows, pillows, pillows.
* Get things off tables and onto walls via wall racks.
* Use screens to separate space. This creates segments in your apartment and makes it look bigger. Instead of backing your furniture to the wall, you can use furniture as separators.
* Splurge on throw carpets, sofa and mattress. These are the main items for an apartment. You can save on others. A throw carpet is probably the single most impactful item to make a statement.
* The easiest "green" activity to do are to (i) use flourescent bulbs (ii) remove your shoes when inside the apartment. Removing shoes leaves all the toxic and unhealthy particles outside.
* Best item to brighten up an apartment: Pillows, pillows, pillows.
* Get things off tables and onto walls via wall racks.
* Use screens to separate space. This creates segments in your apartment and makes it look bigger. Instead of backing your furniture to the wall, you can use furniture as separators.
* Splurge on throw carpets, sofa and mattress. These are the main items for an apartment. You can save on others. A throw carpet is probably the single most impactful item to make a statement.
* The easiest "green" activity to do are to (i) use flourescent bulbs (ii) remove your shoes when inside the apartment. Removing shoes leaves all the toxic and unhealthy particles outside.
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