The new year is still very new, without a new development to rave about, per se. I have been busy viewing “busted” new developments, leftover units in Upper East Side buildings that were not properly renovated (I won’t name names), and resales in recent new buildings. It has me thinking of the warts on current
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “Banks are lending at nearly zero percent. After my deductions, money cost less than 1.5%. Why wouldn’t I borrow as much as I could?” This is the conversation I’m having with buyers right now. They understand that their buying power has doubled since the time of 6% rates.
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For any of you who follow me on Twitter, you may see my running triumphs and travails. This April 15th (3 months from today!!) I’ll be running the Boston Marathon. While this will be my 13th marathon, running Boston will be one of many firsts for me: 1) My first Spring marathon 2) My first
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Happy New Year! Dear clients, friends, and readers: I have loved consistently delivering a newsletter mid-month for all these many months and years, as it gives my voice a little more room to resonate, when I’m not competing with quarterly reports, and the noise of beginning-month missives. With the beginning of 2013 a few days
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What most excites me about 2013? The election is behind us. If we’re all still here on Saturday, the Mayans were wrong. The Hobbit and Les Miserables are in theatres. What else is there, really? Well, New Development. We will see more and more in 2013, thank goodness. While much will be made of the
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Sensational articles sell newspapers, so there is never a surprise in the real estate section to read about the biggest deals, the tallest towers, the best of this neighborhood or that one, the best apartments, the smallest apartments, etc. However, the New York Times finally landed on the realities which I’ve been writing about here
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Mortgage rates actually dipped a little more over the last few weeks, leaving mortgage brokers with a large number of applications for refinances and new purchases. With inventory low and buyers perhaps waiting for the new crop of apartments in the new year, refinances will be more than enough to keep underwriters busy. With new
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I addressed the fiscal cliff in a very limited way in another post. How will it impact the mortgage market? For a year, rates have been moving down, where we’re seeing unheard-of numbers. This is one of the big market drivers in the real estate market for many who had been on the sidelines, and
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One of my early memories growing up in New Orleans was getting a canoe ride home from pre-school to my grandfather’s house, in a flooded Garden District. That is, a canoe ride down the street. Soon thereafter in 1979, was the famous “May 3rd Flood,” during which I received a harmless snake bite. Floods and
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The Presidential election became a bit of the sideshow attraction to Hurricane Sandy. I was supposed to do a small gather and chat on the impact of the election on the New York City Real Estate Market, but it was scheduled for October 30th. Coincidentally, this was the day the hurricane did its worst. I’m
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