October 31, 2008

It’s Not Even Logical Anymore In New York

A report from Metro New York. “Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a local stimulus plan Thursday intended to ease the burdens of the economic crisis. The mayor proposed 18 initiatives, including a Web site for laid-off financial workers and a schedule of smaller quarterly tax payments for properties valued at or below $250,000 instead of larger, biannual payments. The city plans to use $24 million in federal funds to buy foreclosed properties and turn them into roughly 250 affordable housing units. ‘We have an increased obligation to New Yorkers who face harsh, short-term problems,’ Bloomberg said.”

“Some New Yorkers were comforted by his suggestions; others said the billionaire mayor was out-of-touch with everyday struggles. ‘I don’t know any homes in our area valued at [less than $250,000],’ said Joan Bachet, a homeowner in Richmond Hill, Queens. Homes in her neighborhood’s least expensive part go for at least $400,000, she estimated.”

From Reuters. “Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc, finding fewer takers for its pricey condos in a market slump, is playing landlord in a bid to lure skittish buyers.

The builder, whose average home price of $672,000 is almost twice that of its nearest rival Standard Pacific Corp, is even trying this tactic in in New York City, where condominium prices seemed immune to a downturn until recently. ‘The market was different,’ said Toll Vice President David Von Spreckelsen. ‘This is new territory.’”

“At Toll’s Northside Piers in New York City…10 one-year leases are available through a local broker instead of the sales office. Rents are in the range of $4,000 to $5,000 per month and prices for the two- and three-bedroom units range from the low $800,000s to about $1.2 million. In that building, the company credits more rent toward the purchase price the earlier a renter decides to buy, Toll’s Von Spreckelsen said.”

From Crain’s New York. “Home prices in the tony beach enclave of the Hamptons have been hit even harder by the sinking economy and credit crisis than their counterparts in New York City. The average price of a house plunged 23.3% to a still expensive $1.5 million in the third quarter from the year-ago period, according to a Prudential Douglas Elliman report prepared by Jonathan Miller, CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc.”

“However that decline is far steeper than the 7% dip in Manhattan, the 11% slip in Queens, or the 5.6% slide in Brooklyn over the same time period.”

“In another sign of just how dire the market has become, the number of sales in the Hamptons fell 29% to 257 during the quarter from the year-ago period, while the number of days a house remained on the market grew 16% to 175. The price of a house that is south of Route 27, the most exclusive part of the Hamptons, rose 18% to $1.1 million in the third quarter from the year-ago period. However, even the prices of those typically sought after homes appear to be falling victim to the crisis. The average price fell 29% from the second to the third quarter.”

“‘There isn’t going to be a fire sale at the Hamptons,’ said Rick Hoffman, regional senior VP of the East End for the Corcoran Group. While Mr. Hoffman concedes that the market has slowed, he said it remains insulated because supply is limited.”

From Bloomberg. “The median price for a home on the eastern tip of New York’s Long Island fell to $830,000 from $1.03 million, the biggest drop in at least five years, according to a report by New York based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.”

“‘The Hamptons market is driven by Wall Street,’ Miller said in an interview. ‘There’s so much financial turmoil right now that even the most affluent people are putting plans on hold.’”

“‘When the stock market crashed everybody put the brakes on,’ said Judi Desiderio, owner of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton. ‘It’s just emotion. It’s not even logical anymore.”’

“More than third of the deals that were scheduled to close in the last week of September and the first week of October were put on hold, she said. While most of the transactions were rescheduled and eventually closed, about one in seven of them were called off, she said. ‘It doesn’t matter if you are buying a piece of jewelry or a car or a vacation home — people go into survival mode,’ Desiderio said.”

From Newsday. “Up until this year, Wall Street has had record-high or near-record bonus compensations,” said Jonathan Miller. ‘Prices are really at 2006 levels. The double-digit drops here are certainly a concern, but they’re matched against records that were set in the middle of last year, when we had a flurry of higher-end property selling.’”

“‘With so many less sales and the market kind of at a stalemate, what’s more likely to be trading are the lower-end prices . . . not that last year’s $1-million house is now at $720,000,’ said Hamptons agent Diane Saatchi, senior vice president at The Corcoran Group.”

“Even though pundits and buyers predicted a fire sale of homes and foreclosures owned by troubled Wall Street executives, Saatchi hasn’t seen that. Many of those tycoons bought their second homes with cash, she said.

“‘A lot of people, instead of lowering their prices, are hoping they can turn their vacation home into a rental property to get through this market,’ she said. ‘They’re not lowering their prices so much as looking at another way to get income from the house.’”

“Jamie Pastorelli and her husband used to hire a baby-sitter twice a week so they could catch a movie or share dinner at a favorite restaurant. Now their nights out together are down to twice a month. ‘We’re just cutting back as much as we can,’ Jamie Pastorelli of Northport, said yesterday. ‘Baby-sitters, holiday spending. That’s the plan.’”

“Jamie Pastorelli, a real-estate broker, said most of her family also has been spending less, eliminating any extras. ‘There are 16 nieces and nephews,’ she said, ‘Everyone says the same thing - it’s time to cut back.’”

“Mohammed Shaikh, 27, of Westbury, a stockbroker in Manhattan, said he’s spending, just not as much. ‘I will still go to the movies and still go out to dinner; I just won’t do it as much.’”

“New York Community Bancorp., the Westbury-based holding company for New York Community Bank and New York Commercial Bank, said Tuesday net income declined 48 percent in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year, largely the result of an investment with the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.”

“The company, a lender to real estate firms, said it earned $58.1 million in the quarter, compared to earnings of $110.9 million in the same period last year. The bank said that the third quarter included a charge of $44.2 million. Included in that charge was $35 million related to the bank’s investment in Lehman Brothers.”

“Aggrieved investors in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc have added new legal claims in what is sure to be one of the most closely watched lawsuits of the mortgage crisis, accusing company insiders and others of misleading them before the firm collapsed.”

“New court papers filed this week by a group of public pension funds suing to try to recover money lost on Lehman’s fall include information gleaned from more than 20 former employees at the Wall Street firm and its mortgage lending subsidiaries.”

“These ‘confidential witnesses’ include a former Lehman vice president who is quoted as saying that employees were ’skeptical’ of the Wall Street firm’s own public statements that it was well-positioned to withstand a housing downturn.”

“‘Lehman assured investors, falsely, that its exposure to the real estate meltdown was well contained, due, in part, to its claimed excellence in ‘hedging’ against losses in that sector,’ the 182-page court filing contends. It says the company’s financial reports ‘lacked transparency, masking Lehman’s exposure to mortgage-related losses.’”

“Total damages sought by the plaintiffs are sure to be in the ‘many billions of dollars,’ said David Stickney, one of the lawyers for the funds. Defendants include Lehman Chief Executive Richard Fuld and other company insiders and board members.”

“The new complaint also adds claims against a group of other Wall Street banks that underwrote Lehman securities offerings, including Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp. In one instance, the complaint cites an unnamed former BNC (one of the company’s lending units) chief operating officer who characterizes the lender’s sales and underwriting practices as ’some of the things that were most egregious in terms of the mistakes the subprime mortgage industry made.’”

The Buffalo News. “When the good times were rolling in recent years, New York State, not unlike Wall Street speculators, rode the euphoria with big budgets that spread around the cash at double and triple the rate of inflation. Now, with the nation and Wall Street in economic chaos, the state faces the consequences: $14 billion in red ink over the next 17 months.”

“Wall Street…provides 20 percent of the state’s revenues. The result is likely to mean major cuts coming to schools, hospitals, local governments and the thousands of entities that rely on state aid each year. An assortment of services faces retrenchment after years of growth. And, depending on which cuts are made when state leaders get down to business, increases in income or property taxes are not being ruled out for next year.”

”There will be hard and painful cuts. There is no segment of this budget that will not be cut,’ Gov. David A. Paterson warned.”

“In a midyear update on the state’s finances, Paterson shocked Albany with word that not only had the current year’s deficit swelled to $1.5 billion, but the state is now staring at a $12.5 billion shortfall in the fiscal year beginning next April 1. Over four years, the gap is a staggering $47 billion — nearly double what was projected just before the recent Wall Street collapse.’

“Among the most troubling projections is that the state will be losing 160,000 private-sector jobs by the end of next year, with higher-paying financial-sector layoffs 50 percent higher than after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

“Fiscal watchdogs said past warnings that the state was not prepared in the event of a sudden slide in the economy are now coming true. Spending increases of triple the inflation rate in some recent years contributed to a culture in Albany of being unable to say no to popular spending programs. ‘We knew things were starting to get shaky,’ said Elizabeth Lynam of the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission.”




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65 Comments »

Comment by Ben Jones
2008-10-31 09:24:11

Not to leave out some other expensive areas:

‘In the Lower Hudson Valley, stronger sales in Rockland and Putnam counties were not enough to lift median sales prices. Counties throughout the region have swollen housing inventories based on reports from Multiple Listing Services for the third quarter.’

‘Putnam had the biggest disparity. Sales rose 11.7 percent in September over the previous year, but its median sales price dove 24.4 percent to $340,000. The county’s median sales price was at $450,000 in 2007.’

‘Rockland sales rose 9.7 percent as its median fell 8.2 percent to $450,000. Westchester County continued to have New York state’s highest median among counties reporting to the state Realtors, though its median of $635,000 was down 10.6 percent from a year earlier. The county’s existing home sales were down 18.3 percent.’

I don’t know if it’s the nature of real estate or of reporting (I suspect it’s the latter) but these markets seem to go from ‘we’re immune,’ to ‘it’s OK, we’ll rent it out,’ to ‘oh crap the sky is falling.’

Good luck UFB Toll, renting those condos out at a negative cash flow. Go down like trump, you fools. As for the NY budget follys, these government bodies got caught up in this giant financial mania just like everyone else. And the commercial RE bubble collapse hasn’t even started to be felt for the most part.

Comment by DinOR
2008-10-31 10:54:06

Ben,

The ‘we’re immune’ language sounds oddly familiar?

Post tech-wreck, money managers in the 2nd qtr. 2000 were saying, “it’s just a bump in the road, if we thought it was something important… we’d wake you up”

Which quickly became, “Sure we’re down, but everyone ELSE is down too!” … and finally “Please don’t move your account??!?”

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2008-10-31 12:07:17

“Go down like trump, you fools.”

Give Trump credit for figuring out that a too-big-to-fail debtor owns the bank, even if we are talking about an individual borrower.

 
Comment by Ria Rhodes
2008-10-31 13:23:47

Luckily I sold my Mid-Hudson Valley 1950’s colonial for $300K five years ago near the top. Last I looked, the value of said property was $280K. Oh yeah, and add NY property taxes and heating oil costs to the mix - gawd!

 
Comment by NYCResident
2008-10-31 13:45:24

“Not to leave out some other expensive areas”

Rockland and Putnam counties are not expensive areas for New York State. While Rockland is geographically close to the city, there is no commuter train service to Penn Station or Grand Central Station. Commuters need to drive or take a bus to the Port Authority or worse, the George Washington Bridge bus terminal, then a long subway service to midtown. Putnam County is over four hours from the city, north of the State Capital of Albany. It’s also north of Boston!

In short, these areas have little bearing on the NYC metropolitan region, which no doubt will also suffer in the months ahead.

Comment by exeter
2008-10-31 15:19:37

Dude…. Putnam County is a 35 minute ride to the Bronx. You have your putnam counties mixed up in a big way. And Putnam is out of reach for most and compared to counties beyond Putnam, the prices are exhorbitant.

 
 
 
Comment by aladinsane
2008-10-31 09:38:01

Ode to Sinatra…

Start spreading the news, I got laid off today
I used to be a part of it - New York, New York
These leveraged shoes, are longing to stay
Right through the very heart of it - New York, New York

I wanna wake up in a city, that’s full of sheep
And find I’m king of the hill - jobless you see?

These little town bubble blues, are coming our way
I know that we’re all part of it - in old New York
If I can’t make it here, I’ll make it elsewhere
It’s looking screwed - New York, New York

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM52Xsvw5NQ

Comment by Ben Jones
2008-10-31 09:47:34

That’s funny, I’m listening to it now. All we need is Tom Waits’ I’ll Take Manhattan!

 
Comment by mikey
2008-10-31 10:02:29

You can plug in Milwaukee for NY and sing those same blues Frank

Milwaukee Mayor Wants 60-Day Moratorium On Foreclosures

I guess that the mayor wants people to stay in their homes long enough to pay his 14.6% property tax increase

Happy Halloween Milwaukee :)

http://www.wisn.com/money/17855309/detail.html?rss=mil&psp=news

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2008-10-31 12:09:13

Tony Bennett, anyone?

“I lost my home…in San Francisco…”

Comment by SanFranciscoBayAreaGal
2008-10-31 13:22:06

Got my vote for Tony :)

 
Comment by Arizona Slim
2008-10-31 13:57:49

Or how about “Burnin’ Down the House” by the Talking Heads?

 
Comment by aladinsane
2008-10-31 14:53:47

Ode to Tony…

I HELOC’d my home in San Francisco
Equity on a hill, it called to me.
To be where little extractions from the money jars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The financial fog may chill the air
I don’t care!
My loans wait there in San Francisco
Above and beyond the equity
When I lose my home to you, San Francisco,
Your Golconda won’t shine for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAwpocZYUJI

 
 
Comment by polly
2008-10-31 15:06:22

Oh…now you guys have me wanting to haunt the garage sales this weekend and troll for cheap CD’s.

 
 
Comment by Cinch
2008-10-31 09:53:36

““In a midyear update on the state’s finances, Paterson shocked Albany with word that not only had the current year’s deficit swelled to $1.5 billion, but the state is now staring at a $12.5 billion shortfall in the fiscal year beginning next April 1. Over four years, the gap is a staggering $47 billion — nearly double what was projected just before the recent Wall Street collapse.’”

I thought only the Federal government can overspend. I know that some states have laws in their constitutions for balance budget spending, I guess not New York or California.

Cinch

Comment by Mormon_Tea
2008-10-31 10:37:34

This shortfall will be repeated ad infinitum for towns, cities, counties, states, and other taxing authorities across the country.

Now, for you die hard deflationistas out there -They will print their way out of this difficulty.

They always print their way out.

That is one reason why gold is $720 an ounce and not $33 an ounce where it was once.

Just before the tsunami hit the beach on Thailand many were fascinated at how low the waterline had gotten and were down there marvelling at it. Getting fascinated about how cash is now king should remind one that the rampant printing of fiat currency can depose King Kash with extreme prejudice.

Comment by BanteringBear
2008-10-31 10:59:41

Well, then, whatever are they waiting for, Einstein?

Comment by Faster Pussycat, Sell Sell
2008-10-31 13:39:21

LOL.

This is definitely the best response to the inflationist hypothesis.

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Comment by packman
2008-10-31 14:07:35

My theory? Accumulation. It takes time to accumulate.

Maybe I’m totally wrong, but it’s one thing that would explain what’s happening. The PTB want to accumulate at low prices, before the SRHTF (R = Really), so ETFs are being manipulated down.

Then when enough accumulation is done - watch out.

Like I said - maybe I’m wrong; just one theory.

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Comment by exeter
2008-10-31 15:21:44

Good Lord….

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Comment by packman
2008-10-31 20:37:57

Care to offer your explanation then, for why paper and physical PM prices have become so separated, and why spot prices have taken a dive - right as financial turmoil, which is supposed to cause PM prices to *rise* - is at a peak, and why physical PM is suddenly so hard to get?

I’m not saying accumulation is happening - I don’t have the inside view to know such a thing, nor do any on this blog I’m sure. I’m also sure that no one on this blog, including yourself, has inside enough view to know that it’s not happening.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2008-10-31 12:15:34

You might be right over time — I don’t claim to have a well-functioning crystal ball on this issue. But I am wondering why if it were so easy as you suggest to just “print your way out,” Japan failed to do so in the early 1990s? And for that matter, why is it that home prices are dropping at a 25% annualized rate in San Diego and similar coastal towns? Isn’t the printing press up to the task of making housing prices go back up again?

 
 
Comment by Lost in Utah
2008-10-31 11:51:02

Any snow up your way yet, Cinch?

 
Comment by patient renter
2008-10-31 13:28:13

Wow. Welcome to the party New York (from California)

 
 
Comment by pdxHOMEDEBTOR/ocLANDRENTER
2008-10-31 09:59:17

“‘There isn’t going to be a fire sale at the Hamptons,’ said Rick Hoffman, regional senior VP of the East End for the Corcoran Group. While Mr. Hoffman concedes that the market has slowed, he said it remains insulated because supply is limited.”

The arrogance of these AHOLES amazes me. Check out Mish’s site, Volvo’s european truck orders down 99.5% 3rd quarter of 2007 to 3rd quarter of 2008 for a peek at things to come.

“‘The Hamptons market is driven by Wall Street,’ Miller said in an interview. ‘There’s so much financial turmoil right now that even the most affluent people are putting plans on hold.’”

If they are so “affluent” why do they need to borrow money? If they are overleveraged, they are going to lose everything, and I can’t wait to see the priceless reactions on their faces.

“‘When the stock market crashed everybody put the brakes on,’ said Judi Desiderio, owner of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton. ‘It’s just emotion. It’s not even logical anymore.”’

You are correct about the “it’s not even logical anymore”, except for the timing. The logic went out the window around 1995 with the invention of sweep accounts with no reserves; next you had the allowance of debt to equity ratios to increase to 30:1 by Bear and Lehman, and 100+ by fraudie mac and fony mae. Now the logic of old fashioned lending is returning for a long, long time, but these fools don’t realize that the old logic (95-07) was a mirage.

PortlandHomedebtor

Comment by DinOR
2008-10-31 10:27:19

PortlandHomedebtor,

What we’re seeing in The Hamptons is simply an extension of their margin calls. As always, I applaud anyone that sees this for being more than just a “current” event. In this case saying “It’s just emotion” I’ll have to agree ( if you’ve ever been hit with a margin call, yes it IS an emotional ‘thing’ ) :(

 
Comment by az_lender
2008-10-31 13:04:35

This “isn’t going to be a fire sale in the Hamptons” comment was my favorite in today’s post. There’s already a fire sale going on in the Hamptons. Supply may be limited, but when demand is zero, the ratio of supply to demand is infinite.

Comment by AdamCO
2008-10-31 14:16:50

They have to say that. It’s their job to provide hope when they no their is none. It isn’t this joker who is arrogant, it is his clients…and he is doing his best to keep them so.

 
 
 
Comment by aladinsane
2008-10-31 10:15:12

Aside from recently let go financial wizards of Wall Street, who else was gonna pony-up $4-5k a month rent, in Gotham we trust?
=======================================================

“At Toll’s Northside Piers in New York City…10 one-year leases are available through a local broker instead of the sales office. Rents are in the range of $4,000 to $5,000 per month and prices for the two- and three-bedroom units range from the low $800,000s to about $1.2 million. In that building, the company credits more rent toward the purchase price the earlier a renter decides to buy, Toll’s Von Spreckelsen said.”

Comment by BanteringBear
2008-10-31 11:03:36

Every time I hear Toll Bros’ I think, McMansions, housing bubble, and greed along with many other things not mentionable on this blog. These national builders need to die.

Comment by Arizona Slim
2008-10-31 13:59:49

And I think of what that family friend told my mother. While he worked for Toll, he coined a new company slogan:

Toll Brothers Homes: Guaranteed for five years. Then they fall apart.

My mother repeats that one every chance she gets.

 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2008-10-31 11:34:57

http://www.northsidepiers.com/index.shtml

A long walk to the bedford subway through some industrial section…kewl how many are gonna get mugged next year walkin home to your million dollah condoze in the sky!

Comment by Skip
2008-10-31 13:59:41

Do they really have a store there that sells nothing but cheese? The Homer Simpson in me would love to live down the street from there.

Comment by aNYCdj
2008-10-31 15:01:46

Yes In Grand Central…and more

http://www.murrayscheese.com/

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Comment by mikey
2008-10-31 10:33:49

Rents are in the range of $4,000 to $5,000 per month and prices for the two- and three-bedroom units range from the low $8000…

Sheesh…In MOST states, we have hard working people that risk life and limb to ROB banks for less than $4000 :)

 
Comment by milkcrate
2008-10-31 10:47:57

“Jamie Pastorelli and her husband used to hire a baby-sitter twice a week so they could catch a movie or share dinner at a favorite restaurant. Now their nights out together are down to twice a month.

Newlyweds, methinks.

Comment by Bad Chile
2008-10-31 10:55:24

Why have kids if you’re only going to spend 71% of your time having dinner with them?

 
Comment by Kim
2008-10-31 11:44:05

Babysitters go for $10-$20 an hour, depending on the area.

A childrens meal is $3.99.

Can’t they do the math?

Comment by DinOR
2008-10-31 12:09:32

Kim,

( You’re missing the point ) It’s all about pretending you don’t have.. children!

I can’t grudge any couple a break from the kids once in awhile but to say it’s a ’sacrifice’ that budgetary constraints mean you can’t do it twice a week isn’t going to connect with most Americans.

My wife and I are empty-nesters for chrissakes and all we talk about at dinner is the kids/grandkids anyway? So why not just bring ‘em!

 
 
 
Comment by cereal
2008-10-31 10:51:59

“‘When the stock market crashed everybody put the brakes on,’ said Judi Desiderio, owner of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton. ‘It’s just emotion. It’s not even logical anymore.”’

Our dyslectic realtor friend has got it backwards

It is LOGIC that’s guiding financial decisions these days, emotion was sooooooo 2006.

Comment by DinOR
2008-10-31 11:24:30

cereal,

Right, every time I read one of those quotes the first thing that comes to mind is:

People falling all over themselves in bidding war = logical

People avoiding over priced real estate like an ugly girl at a dance = emotional

 
 
Comment by Ernest
2008-10-31 10:52:21

“”and a schedule of smaller quarterly tax payments for properties valued at or below $250,000 instead of larger, biannual payments.”"

This is like buying a car. It is not what you owe but the monthly payment.

Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat…

Comment by cereal
2008-10-31 11:45:57

My favorite movey. Ever

Rocky

IV

Great fight

Oh, you mean the OTHER Rocky!

 
 
Comment by AnonyRuss
2008-10-31 11:17:12

The lousiest house in a borderline area sells (once sold) for $400K, and that somehow still seems reasonable to some people. I am glad that reality is making its long-awaited return to the Empire State.

 
Comment by Curt
2008-10-31 11:35:06

The Hamptons!!!!

Bahahahahhhahahahahahahaahahhahaahha!!!!!!!!!

 
Comment by Suffolk_Them
2008-10-31 11:39:28

There are houses in crap areas like Shinnecock Hills that 10 years ago were where the night janitor or supermarket cashier lived. They were maybe $150,000 homes. At the peak, such crumby little ranches and capes got up near a million, bought up by weekending Manhattanites. I believe that when this thing finally plays itself out, the prices of such homes will be closer to $150,000 than $1,000,000.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2008-10-31 12:14:33

‘The record $1.1 billion Manhattan House conversion on the Upper East Side has run into resistance from several major commercial banks that have either refused to finance condo deals there or demanded exorbitant down payments from contracted buyers. Sources familiar with the building said at least a dozen condo buyers have either been turned down for loans, or asked to provide 30 to 50 percent cash deposits, which in some cases forced them to postpone the scheduled closing of their units.’

‘As a result, some buyers fear they will have to purchase their apartments entirely in cash or risk walking away from the building because the condo agreements did not include a mortgage contingency clause. more’

http://ny.therealdeal.com/

Comment by Professor Bear
2008-10-31 12:17:39

‘As a result, some buyers fear they will have to purchase their apartments entirely in cash or risk walking away from the building because the condo agreements did not include a mortgage contingency clause.’

Anyone wealthy enough to buy one of these certainly does not need to sully himself by taking out a mortgage, does he?

Comment by Faster Pussycat, Sell Sell
2008-10-31 12:27:28

The wealthy like leverage too.

 
 
Comment by Carl Morris
2008-10-31 12:22:46

Ben,

That was the funniest part of your recent interview, the tone of voice the interviewer took when you dared to voice an opinion on their real estate market. They thought you made perfect sense when talking about everywhere else, but as soon as the Hamptons came up it was “oh, the Arizona boy is going to tell us how things work in the Hamptons now”.

Comment by BanteringBear
2008-10-31 12:57:50

Anywhere I can listen to that archived interview?

Comment by manhattanite
2008-10-31 13:59:39

here is a link to ben jones’ excellent wnyc radio interview with host brian lehrer on npr on october 24, 2008:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2008/10/24/segments/113542

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Comment by housegeek
2008-11-02 13:14:29

Thanks Ben, for setting the NYC record straight - great job!

 
 
 
Comment by Arizona Slim
2008-10-31 14:03:31

Oh, good grief. The MSM has found that Ben offers a good interview. What is this world coming to?

 
Comment by Faster Pussycat, Sell Sell
2008-10-31 15:48:08

Yeah, that was super funny.

It’s out there in California and Florida not here in Manhattan and the Hamptons.

BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

 
 
Comment by NYCityBoy
2008-10-31 12:44:43

“Buyers have begun to bail out of condos like 25 Broad and 20 Pine Street in the Financial District,”

The disastrous projects in my old neighborhood really need to be seen to be believed. I still wonder if 59 John Street sold out. The William Beaver House will stand as a monument to this madness. We had received post cards for 25 Broad. Thank god for paper shredders.

I am glad I had this little pick-me-up article on a Friday afternoon. I feel better after a difficult week.

 
Comment by NYCResident
2008-10-31 14:02:15

Ben,

This is a very interesting article. As stories spread of condo buyers getting burned, the sales of new developments and conversions will come to a screeching halt.

However, I think that a price adjustment will make lenders comfortable and bring buyers to the bargaining table.

The only way to get a significant price adjustments is to turn sales over to lenders from the developers.

 
 
Comment by potential buyer
2008-10-31 13:50:08

From Yahoo: “This month, New York City Comptroller William Thompson estimated that the city alone might lose 165,000 jobs over two years.
“We’re going to see home prices coming down pretty significantly in New York,” Wyss said. “A lot of people are losing jobs, and won’t be getting their usual bonuses, and that leaves less money for housing.”

What IS the population of Manhattan, just out of curiosity?

Comment by QinQueens
2008-11-01 00:27:07

I think all boroughs except Staten Island are around 2M each. SI has much less.

 
 
Comment by aladinsane
2008-10-31 14:04:20

The Hamptons way of coming to grips that nobody will buy your house, and you need a little scratch-because the Street’ laid you off a coupla weeks ago…
=========================

“‘A lot of people, instead of lowering their prices, are hoping they can turn their vacation home into a rental property to get through this market,’ she said. ‘They’re not lowering their prices so much as looking at another way to get income from the house.’”

 
Comment by Left LA
2008-10-31 14:14:10

Shocking news from Dublin just in….

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hJWyVehzrfp39g66QaRY2cTBjNDQD945LLP82

Dublin shelves plans for U2 Tower

I have been waiting for this one. As soon as I read about the plan, I knew it would never come to fruition. Next to be abandoned: Chicago Spire.

 
 
Comment by exeter
2008-10-31 15:38:44

Another *barely* commutable to NYC county is Sullivan that saw an influx on NJ/NYC refugees pushed out during bubble years. Sales there are down exactly 50%, Sep06 to Sep08.

Note: Sullivan–>NYC is NOT a commute you want to make but they’re doing it.

 
Comment by Nozferatu
2008-11-01 01:56:18

Honestly….who in their right mind would want to pay that much to live in NYC….what an utter POS place to live.

Marlon Brando was right when he called the NYC the armpit of America….what a shthole.

Comment by exeter
2008-11-01 09:11:19

Agreed. But NYC is a great place to liberate $$$.

 
 
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