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I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1996-2002. The composition of the people of Cambridge is not terribly different than Manhattan. And in 1995, Rent Control was ended in the state of Massachusetts. This is a state that still has Blue Laws because in concept, people can’t police themselves on Sunday mornings from drinking alcohol. ButRead more

There is a ton of mixed messages regarding the NYC housing market. There’s much “good news” in the press right now, and sellers are perplexed that their apartments or townhouses aren’t selling. Rates are at historic lows, inventory is still very low, population in NYC is growing, job growth is historically high, and many signsRead more

At some point, mortgage rates must go back up, but I’ve just about given up trying to guess when that will happen. I can remember conversations back in 2009 and 2010, the substance of which was that hard assets will be a smart play. As inflation comes in, real estate, among the long list ofRead more

If you took a peek at my other recent post about housing starts being up significantly from 2012 to 2013, note that many of those Manhattan projects are online and in construction. I’m not trying be the frontline reviewer of these projects, necessarily, but in the past month I did get to see 2 projectsRead more

Almost all the latest indicators point to a strengthening local economy. Lower mortgage rates, averaging 4.28%, down a few basis points – a year ago, rates were averaging 3.52% Over 91,000 jobs added in NYC over the last year A push for less Federal involvement in mortgages, which should make mortgages easier to get! UnemploymentRead more