Blog

After 10 years of keeping a monthly newsletter, I have discovered that I still quite like sharing what I’m learning about the real estate market, or from my travels around New York City and the world. I’ve written about running, new developments, the good and bad behavior of agents, companies, apps, ideas, renovations, you nameRead more

Sellers of cooperative apartments who are seeing their properties linger are wondering what they can do. You can take a look at our reports here and here for a bit more color about inventory and the market. I can point out a few trends which hurt the resale prospects of older, less renovated properties: BuyerRead more

Collusion There’s been a lot of arguing about collusion in the news. “No Collusion!” is what we hear from our President. Regardless of which side of that argument you come out on, you are probably disgusted and frustrated. At the very least, it’s a distracting mess. Don’t throw your hands up just yet. A littleRead more

What do you need to know about the 4th quarter 2018 report (link is here)? Here is the official BHS Brokerspeak: “Manhattan’s median apartment price fell to $1,050,000 in the fourth quarter, a 5% decline from a year ago. While the average price was up over the past year, this was due to a pickupRead more

The expectation and predictions in this blog have been that when mortgage rates and inventory increase, the market and price appreciation will both slow down, allowing for a bit of a healthy landing of some sort. But making predictions in this moment feels like trying to determine how long this ridiculous New York City winterRead more

As I mentioned in last month’s overview, I expected 2014 to be the best year yet for my firm, Brown Harris Stevens. That was indeed the case: the firm sold $4.2 billion in Real Estate during the year, which was 7% higher than in 2013, with only 3% of the agents working in New YorkRead more

Since we committed, many years ago, to sending out our newsletter mid-month rather than on the 1st of the month, it will sometimes go out the same day that taxes are due, or the day of the Boston Marathon bombing, or, in this case, about a month since the most recent stock market peak. IfRead 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