This month, I’m finding it a bit hard to get away from the sense that the market remains schizophrenic, or that perhaps the market is driving people crazy!

I’ve already covered what’s happening out in condo-land, but what about cooperatives?

What about 1-2bedroom units?

What does the future hold?

Trying to be contrarian, I’ve been looking for any writing from people who feel that rising mortgage rates will affect sales in New York.

Not finding any press to indicate anything negative, except that rent is expensive, as are apartments.

And if you don’t have a lot

saved,

it’s hard to win bidding wars.
What I find instead is more like today’s Wall Street Journal, arguing that a 0.5% rate bump (which we just saw) won’t do anything to depress prices or the appetite for real estate.
So, let’s see what we can gather from the blur:

• Residential Permits are up 5x since last year, meaning that there’s a ton of residential construction underway.

  Great, but let’s talk in 12-18 months and see if that is really helping!

• Inventory continues to plunge:
• Some rational conversations about the need for more housing, as our city’s population increases.

  Can’t they just put houses from Detroit and send them to Brooklyn?

• Throw Pricing Rules Out of the Window- we’re seeing silliness across the board.

  Major competition for properties

• A shocker- prices are going up.

  Quite a seller’s market.

  Even in Brooklyn, which at this point is its own crazy market.

• Buyers also open to rentals– which they better be right now.

  I don’t see a slump but a pickup in rental prices as low inventory continues.

• We’ll send a Q2 report next week, but I predict that these numbers

  from Q1 will be even more drastic in Q2, lower inventory (seasonally adjusted) and higher rents.

• New York Magazine

  comparing now to 2006.

  I agree.

  Except that my head seems to be spinning more.

• This may be why you don’t necessarily look to your newspaper for investing advice.

  The New York Times tries to help you time your real estate investment.

• We’re not seeing major issues with appraisals right now, which is a surprise of this rising market.
• We’re still seeing more velocity at 3-bedrooms, but almost no inventory for 2-bedrooms, while 1-bedroom buyers are the most cautious.

It’s hard to get

a zoom-in view really, since as we do so all we see are email flurries, where every property I would consider for a buyer has a signed contract.

As inventory comes on, it is absorbed.

It’s truly a blur.

Best to stop, have a coffee with us, and process as quickly as you can.
I’m encouraging owners to evaluate their

scenarios if selling is an desire for them.

The market is here for them, and you.

Buyers, hold onto your hats.
More to come!
Scott & The Harris Residential Team
(Thanks to Ari Meridy for contributing research to this article!)