Real Estate New York City

Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Alhokair has listed his penthouse at 432 Park Avenue for $170 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Alhokair paid $87.7 million for the six-bedroom pad, which is the highest unit in the supertall tower, in 2016. The record for the priciest transaction in New York City, and the country, was Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase of a quadplex at 220 Central Park South. ... (source: therealdeal.com photo by: Dimitry Anikin)

No, it's not the Brooklyn Bridge. In New York City there are many bridges that connect the island to the mainland. Can you tell me which one is pictured in this beautiful photo from the 30s? Little hint, this one connects Manhattan to another state ...... (source: New York Public Library)

We're happy to introduce you to our column on La Voce di New York: "il Mattone Amercano". With this column we’ll take a close look at, and analyze, the most intriguing aspects of the real estate market in New York and South Florida. This time you'll read about:... Renters in NYC have now concluded that these prices won’t last long, May saw a record number of leases. The tallest building in Miami now breaking ground. Enjoy the reading!

New signed contracts for all three property types combined expanded significantly from last year’s same period for the sixth consecutive month. The significant annual jump reflected the lockdown during the same period last year. New inventory rose year over year for the past three months as the market reverts to traditional seasonal patterns.... (source: millersamuel.com)

People are loving this listing of mine, just north of Central Park. Who else shouldn't miss it? https://www.compass.com//118-west-112t/660011087888407161/

Welcome to this bright 3 bedroom, 2 full bath condo steps from Central Park. Your new home combines modern comforts with old-world charm. The apartment features separate bedroom wings, three exposures, solid oak flooring throughout, large windows, ample closet space, high ceilings with crown molding and your own in-unit vented Washer/Dryer. Enjoy your time entertaining friends and family in the open kitchen with white cabinets and Celador countertops, stainless steel applianc...es, marble backsplash and counterspace for two bar stools. The two full bathrooms are windowed and feature D'Orient Palmira tile in Carrera marble and Kohler soaking tubs. Included with your new home comes a large Private Storage Space and a Reserved Bike Spot in the basement. The Park Lane Condominium is only two short blocks from Central Park, the 2/3 express subways and a short distance to the B/C line. The building offers a Fitness Room and a Furnished Patio surrounded by greenery. https://www.compass.com//118-west-112t/660011087888407161/

US home prices jump at record rate Home prices are on the up, but that may lead to trouble in the future. The median cost of a single-family home jumped 12 percent in the third quarter to $313,500, marking the biggest year-over-year increase since 2013, according to data from the National Association of Realtors that was first reported by Bloomberg.... Favorable mortgage rates will continue to bring fresh buyers to the market, said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. However, the affordability situation will not improve even with low interest rates because housing prices are increasing much too fast. Concerns about social distancing, along with an uptick in remote work, have also created greater demand for homes in areas with more space. The demand has put pressure on housing supply: The total number of homes on the market at the end of last quarter 1.47 million was almost 20 percent lower than the same time last year, NAR said. By the group’s calculation, it would take 2.7 months to sell that inventory at the current pace. (source: therealdeal.com)

Another Month Of Double-Digit Gains For Miami’s Condo Market In October Miami’s condo market continued to show an increase in sales volume and a decrease in inventory last month, according to a new report from Miller Samuel. The number of condos that were put into contract in Miami-Dade during October was up 12.8% compared to the same period in 2019. In Broward, condo market contracts were up 86% for the month, and in Palm Beach the increase was 155%.... Condo inventory in Miami has been shrinking since 2018, and that trend continued in October. The total number of new condo listings in Miami dropped 53%compared to last year, from 4,080 units to 1,914 units. In Broward, the drop was 12%, and in Palm Beach it was 10%. Dollar volume is likely to be up last month at an even higher percentage than the increase in transaction volume. Newly signed Miami-Dade contracts worth over $1 million were up 137%in November. (source: thenextmiami.com)

Lovely 2-bedroom condo two blocks from Central Park. $670K. Yep, you saw that right!

Hi there, Rick Ravasini with Rava Realty from Manhattan. What’s going on in the Manhattan real estate sales market? This quarter (Jul-Aug-Sep) began just over a week after the COVID lockdown ended and it reflects sales-contracts that were signed during and after the COVID lockdown. We notice a slight improvement: the number of closed sales edged up a bit from the previous quarter which bodes well for the future...or at least we hope so.

Sunny south-facing, spacious 2 queen-size bedrooms, and 1 marble windowed bath, offers elegant modern kitchen cabinets and fixtures, stainless steel appliances with stone counter-top, an in unit Washer/Dryer, Dishwasher, microwave, high ceilings, solid oak flooring throughout. The apartment comes with a large Storage space and a reserved bike spot in the basement. This elevator boutique condo building offers: Fitness Room, Bike Room, Common Courtyard, 2 minutes from Central Park North and close proximity to the 2/3 and B/C subway trains. Surrounded by restaurants and retail shopping. A wonderful place to call home and not to be missed!

Cuomo imposes new Covid-19 restrictions Any establishment with a state liquor license, including bars and restaurants, along with gyms, must close at 10 p.m., Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. NYS is taking action to stop the spread in response to rising COVID numbers, Cuomo said in a tweet.... Covid-19 cases in New York have hit levels not seen since the spring, with the infection rate seven-day average in the city rising above 2 percent, and the statewide infection rate close to 3 percent. Bars and restaurants are currently allowed to operate both indoors and outdoors under 25 percent capacity. (source: therealdeal.com)

Raleigh condo project approved at 175 feet. A key Miami Beach board approved a glassy condo near the Art Deco-style Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach after the New York developer agreed to trim the height from 200 feet to 175 feet. The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board voted to approve plans to restore and renovate the Raleigh and neighboring Richmond and South Seas hotels, in the 1700 block of Collins Avenue. The project is expected to cost $750 million. (source: miamiherald.com)

What’s going on in the Manhattan Rental Market? In this brief update we cover the October 2020 YoY Manhattan rentals stats. ----------------------... What’s going on in the Manhattan rental Market? Let’s take a look at the October data After months of price declines, people are moving back to the city. The number of new leases is finally on the rise surging to the highest October peak in twelve years. The Number of New Leases surged 33.2% to 5,641 from October 2019, representing the first increase in 14 months. The Median Rental Price was $3,100, down -11.4% from the previous year while the Net Effective Median Rent decreased -15.9% year over year to $2,868, the lowest level in nine and a half years. The percentage of apartments offered with some form of Concession surged to a record 60.4% from 36.9%, and the average amount of a concession reached a record 2.1 months from 1.2 months, respectively, from the same period last year. The Average Rental Price went down -8.8% to 3,910 and the Average per Square Foot Rent was down -11.6% to $61.38. The Listing Inventory kept rising to 16,145 properties on the market up by 218.4%, reaching a fourteen-year high. The Vacancy Rate set a new record for the sixth consecutive month by reaching 6.14%. The influx of new lease signings occurred due to increasing affordability since the beginning of the pandemic last spring. Contributing to the lowest rent in nearly a decade was the records set for both the market share of landlord concessions and the average amount of a concession. If you have questions, I am here for you!

Space to breathe. This 2 bedroom, 2 bath home offers a fantastic layout, with split bedrooms, and generous proportions, and 6 massive closets. It also comes with an option to buy a parking spot, read on! From the functional entryway, you will enter the massive Main Room which seamlessly merges the Kitchen and Living/Dining Room. 9.2-foot ceilings and beautiful hardwood floors are present throughout along with extra-wide window panes. The open chef's kitchen is equipped with s...tainless steel appliances, inclusive of an extra-large fridge with water dispenser and automatic ice maker. As far as the Living/Dining space, you will have fun decorating it because it is a handsome, wide, bright space to play with! The winged bedrooms allow for the master suite to be completely private, if needed, with its en-suite bathroom featuring a floor to ceiling shower. This main bedroom is very large, faces south, and can fit a King Size bed with plenty of room left for additional furniture. The second bedroom, which overlooks the building's private patio, could also fit a king size bed if needed. With a queen-size or a bunk bed in it, you will have plenty of space for additional items. The 2 bathrooms are comparable in size; the second one has a tub (with the shower head as well). There is a Laundry closet with a vented High Capacity Washer/Dryer and space left for additional storage. Custom blinds on every window. Included in the sale there is an Extra-Large Storage Unit in the basement. Add to all of this a sweet Tax Abatement, this home has everything you need and more. The Douglass is the most sought after boutique condo in South Harlem with doormen working from 3pm to 7am. It features a gym and a serene patio/garden on the 2nd floor. The Douglass is situated in proximity to all Harlem Restaurant Row, Central Park, Morningside Park. Steps away from the B|C subway lines, gourmet grocery stores, and much more. LAST BUT NOT LEAST: the sellers are also offering a parking spot in the building's private garage for sale at a separate cost. The asking price for the apartment is NOT inclusive of the parking spot. The apartment can be purchased with or without a parking spot. Please inquire for more information. https://www.compass.com//2110-frederic/637518535211649689/ See more

South Florida’s multifamily market sees fewer investors than 2019. Still, prices rise. Anticipated population growth has multifamily investors spending more on apartment buildings despite sales volume dropping by 50% for the first half of 2020, compared to the year-ago period, in Miami-Dade and Broward, according to a sales report. Price per square foot for multifamily units slumped by 29% in Broward year-over-year, but Miami-Dade saw a 25% increase in price per square foot, ...according to the Cushman & Wakefield South Florida 2020 midyear forecast. The report compared sales data for the first and second quarters of 2019 to 2020. The price per square foot rose year-over-year by $50 per square foot in Miami-Dade, from $200 to $250 per square foot. Multifamily units sold at about $180 per square foot in early 2017. The price per square foot dipped in Broward by $70 per square foot, from $240 to $170 per square foot. Multifamily units sold at about $240 per square foot in early 2017. The multifamily pricing overall has held up better than expected. With the fundamentals being the way they are, low interest rates are contributing to the stability of the product right now, Weaver said. By late 2021, the population in Miami-Dade is anticipated to gain 0.6% new residents reaching 2,754,183 and Broward is anticipated to grow by 0.8%, bringing its total population to 1,986,839 people. Sale prices for houses and condos continue to increase during the pandemic, according to the Miami Association of Realtors monthly sales reports. Multifamily investors from New York and California are showing the most interest, Weaver said. The more people feel more comfortable to hop on a plane and travel, we’ll likely see more sales. (source: therealdeal.com)

New Fort Lauderdale retail space is leasing quickly. Outdoor seating is key. Society Las Olas, a new residential-mixed use building in Fort Lauderdale, has filled 44% of its retail space. The draw? Outdoor seating. Health-conscious eatery Pura Vida Miami recently leased 1,600 square feet. Virginia-based Thompson Hospitality signed a 6,000-square-foot lease, dividing 4,500 square feet for Matchbox Restaurants and about 1,500 square feet to Big Buns Damn Good Burger. All are ex...pected to open during the first quarter 2021. They all liked the high energy and outdoor seating along the river, said Ben Mandell, Tricera Capital co-founder and co-managing principal. (source: miamiherald.com photo: miamiherlad.com)

Unemployment fell as workers returned to their jobs that were lost during lockdown. Hiring rose for the fourth straight month, though at the slowest pace since the U.S. economy began to spring back from April shutdowns. Nonfarm payrolls increased 1.4 million in August, the Labor Department said Friday, matching economists’ expectations and following gains of 2.7 million, 4.8 million, and 1.8 million in May, June and July, respectively. The temporary hiring of 238,000 Census 2...020 workers helped boost payrolls. The U-3 unemployment rate, meanwhile, dropped to 8.4% from 10.2% in July. The decline was much bigger than anticipatedeconomists polled by FactSet expected a 9.8% rateand it marks the first sub-10% print since the coronavirus crisis began. An increase in the labor-force participation rate, by 0.3% to 61.7%, makes the decline in unemployment even better. While the unemployment rate is down markedly from its peak near 15% in April, joblessness remains historically high, particularly when compared with a 3.5% rate in February. Some 29 million Americans continue to receive unemployment insurance. (source: barrons.com)

MORTGAGE RATES NOTCH NEW LOW. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped .07 percentage points for the week ending Sept. 10, reaching 2.86 percent anew low since Freddie Mac began conducting the survey in 1971. This time last year, the mortgage rates averaged 3.56 percent. Fifteen-year mortgages declined, too, to an average of 2.37, while five-year mortgages were up 18 percentage points to 3.11. Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said a late summer s...lowdown in the economic recovery was to thank for the low mortgage rates, but that might not hold through the fall, when a lack of supply could drive up prices and deter homebuyers. Still, the historically low mortgage rates have led to a frenzy of homebuying, and even a rebound for timber real estate investment trusts, responding to the higher demand for lumber. The average home price also broke the $300,000 mark for the first time in July. Existing home sales were up 24.7 percent in July, according to the National Association of Realtors, after two consecutive months of gains. (source: therealdeal.com)

Are there 15,000 people who want to live in Manhattan? Manhattan’s vacancy rate climbed to 5.1 percent in August, according to Douglas Elliman’s monthly rental report produced by Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants. It’s the first time Manhattan vacancy has reached this level in the 14 years that Miller Samuel has tracked its rental market, and the fourth consecutive month that the number of uninhabited rentals have set a new record. ... The number of deals with concessions or owners paying the broker fee jumped to 59 percent last month from 36 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile,listing inventory ballooned by 78 percent to 642 apartments for rent last month, up from 360 the year before. Manhattan saw new leases signed fall 24 percent to 4,990 from 6,544 the previous August. Of the deals that did happen, 54 percent included concessions such as a month of free rent or no broker fees from just 32 percent a year before. Miller said that was the largest share of Manhattan deals with sweeteners in more than a decade. Listing inventory in the borough also hit a new high for the third month in a row with more than 15,000 apartments for rent. That’s a 166 percent increase over the 5,645 apartments that were on the market in August 2019. The median rental price fell 7.7 percent year-over-year to $3,161 from $3,423. (source: therealdeal.com)

There were 55 closings at $4 million and above in the month of July, 6 more compared to June 2020. The Average Closing Price was $9,765,556 up 31% from the previous month, meanwhile the Median Closing Price was $5,400,00 down 8.5% from June, the Negotiability Factor, that is the average discount from the last asking price, was 9.70% gaining up 1.7% from the previous month. The Average Days On Market were 269 compared to 155 for the properties that closed in June. If you want ...to take a peek at all luxury closings and our statistics you can find the link in the description. Be well and have a luxurious week. Links: June 2020: https://docs.google.com//1P9aJ6NBsNjWU8lKW3_wyPGozDO/edit July 2020: https://docs.google.com//1kFRi-WFnu8rXxoLee_bH-XUhSh/edit

Home sales plunged across South Florida in Q2 Coronavirus took its toll on South Florida’s residential markets in the second quarter, with double-digit declines in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Miami-Dade condo sales fared the worst, with sales dollar volume and closings falling by nearly half. Single-family home sales dropped by more than 30 percent in each county, year-over-year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.... Luxury brokers have pointed to an increase in home sales in waterfront markets such as Miami Beach and Palm Beach, but those sales are in the high-end. Miami-Dade Residential sales in Miami-Dade declined by 39.4 percent to 4,766. Single-family home sales dropped to 2,688, a 30.3 percent year-over-year decrease, while condo sales declined by 48.1 percent, to 2,078. Prices were still on the rise, increasing by 5.6 percent for houses to $380,000, and by 5.2 percent for condos to $262,250. Broward County Overall, residential sales totaled 5,827 in the second quarter, down 38.5 percent year-over-year. Single-family home sales fell 33.3 percent to 3,112. Condo sales in Broward County declined by 43.5 percent to 2,715. Prices rose for single-family homes, increasing 5.5 percent to $385,000, and for condos, up 5.7 percent to $185,000. Palm Beach County In Palm Beach County, home and condo sales decreased 34.5 percent year-over-year to 6,055. Single-family home sales were down by 30.6 percent to 3,660. Condo sales declined by 40.2 percent to 2,395. Single-family home prices increased 4.2 percent to $370,000. Condo prices rose 7.2 percent to $200,000. (source: therealdeal.com)

Manhattan is Cold, the Suburbs and Brooklyn are Hot! In Manhattan, the drops were stunning. July contracts for co-ops priced between $4 million and $5 million were down 94 percent from the same month last year. No contracts were signed for condos above $20 million. Across all price brackets, condo and co-op contracts were down 56 percent. But in Brooklyn where New Yorkers often migrate to in search of bigger homes and more open space the numbers surged: 178 new condo con...tracts in July, up from 147 last year. Deals for single-family homes more than doubled. The complete picture of July contracts shows that while the Manhattan market is struggling, buyers are flocking to areas with space, including Brooklyn, Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut. Manhattan seems to be its own separate entity, said Miller Samuel’s Jonathan Miller, who authored the report, And I think that had a lot to do with the exodusback in March and April when about 40 percent of the residents of Manhattan moved out and they haven’t come back yet. The shift in demand has upended the pace of business for brokers in the city and suburbs alike. Manhattan brokers, idled when the state shut down in March, are now working with a limited pool of buyers as the effects of the pandemic meet the natural clearing of the summer vacation season. (Just three properties above $4 million went into contract last week.) In the Hamptons, brokers have been working overtime so much so that home options for wealthy buyers are thinning, according to brokers in the area. We have a very saturated market, there’s not a lot of optionality people are definitely fitting round pegs in square holes in the process. (source: therealdeal.com)

What’s going on in the Manhattan Rental Market? In this brief update we cover the July 2020 YoY Manhattan rentals stats. ----------------------... With the withdrawal of some of the restrictions due to Covid-19 emergency, new rental activity surged month over month but still well below the year-ago levels. The Number of New Leases (excluding renewals), went down - 23.4% to 4,949, not the best but far from the worst percentage of loss ever - 70.9% recorded this April. The Median Rental Price was $3,320 down -7.6% from the previous year while the Net Effective Median Rent decreased -10.1% to $3,167 from the same period last year. The most significant annual decline in almost nine years of tracking. The Average Rental Price went down -6.1% to 4,031 and the Average per Square Foot Rent was down -8.0% to $64.39. Consistent with the decrease in rental prices, there was a record amount of listing inventory and a rise in landlord concessions: The Listing Inventory reached the new record of 13,117 properties on the market up by 121.9% YoY with a Vacancy Rate that jumped for the third consecutive month to a new record in fourteen years, reaching 4.33%. The new record was more than twice the rate in the same period last year. The percentage of apartments offered with some form of Concession was 46.7%, up from 30.6% in July 2019. So we went back to two and a half years ago levels. The Days on Market went up 2 days YoY at 28 days Vs. 26 days a year ago. But as I said at the beginning, the situation, although far from the numbers we are used to, is showing signs of improvement. With an inventory that has never been this large, this might be a good time to get a good deal and some kind of concession. The landlord needs to continue to be pragmatic in these times. If you have questions, I am here for you!