What does the peanut gallery think of the .3% improvement in August? I think it's pretty irrelevant, especially since the consumer confidence index is down. It still points to a slowing rate of decline for NYC.

my Moneywatch take here http://bit.ly/2btdNw -- it's good news nationally, because it's so relatively broad-based.

I don't think Case-Shiller is relevant to NYC though -- it doesn't include co-ops so what's the point?

ali r.
{downtown broker}

First, only single family homes are counted. Then, it has a condo index that doesn't included co-ops. Finally, month-to-month changes (especially when seasonally adjusted) are far less important than y-o-y changes.

This won't last - watch prices fall when the stupid $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit expires.

Manhattan inventory still growing.

more less bad news= good news. gotta understand the disease before the cure can work. most people don't read past the headline.

"gotta understand the disease before the cure can work"

No you don't. Ask any doctor. All sorts of diseases they don't know the mechanism of, but can treat.

ok...let me more precise.

you have to agree that you have a disease. according to the headline news here, everything is fine.

Do you think coops as a whole declined more than condos and single homes?

"What does the peanut gallery think of the .3% improvement in August?"

Actually, the improvement for NY was .5%:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/10/27/a-look-at-case-shiller-by-metro-area-october-update/

Some other cities are definitely seeing a major uptrend. San Franscisco is up 2.8% and Minnepalois is up 3.2%. It's kind of hard to be a housing bear with these kinds of numbers.

The President says "It's kind of hard to be a housing bear with these kinds of numbers. "

Mr. President, you cannot believe the sacrifices and losses some people will incur just to avoid having to say..."ya I was wrong".

The successful ones don't hesitate to admit defeat. But they add on a little..."ya, I was wrong, but I've learned and wait till next time"

in september less than 10% of single family homes sold for more than $500k. 70% sold for $250k or less. go real estate.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/breakdown-of-single-family-homes-by-price/

Goldman Sachs is calling for another 5% to 10% leg down by 2010.

Merrill thinks we've stabilized and will slowly grind higher over the next few years.

There are also Case-Shiller numbers for condos, which probably are more relevant to the New York Market. I would say the numbers are pretty much flat. I don't think .3% is all that exciting either way, but I guess some of the bulls are thrilled.

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_csmahp/2,3,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,5,0,0,0,0,0.html

For New York

Not Seasonally Adjusted

July 09 196.26522
August 09 196.96756
--------------------------
+ 0.70234 (or + 0.36%)

Seasonally Adjusted

July 09 196.6512338
August 09 195.9950865
--------------------------
- 0.65614731 (or - 0.33%)

steve, still waiting for you to admit you were wrong. because you were. spectacularly.

> Mr. President, you cannot believe the sacrifices and losses some people will incur just to avoid
> having to say..."ya I was wrong".

I can... I've just watched SteveF do it for the last year. His stupidity knows no end...

Several of the major bank's economists have said that they think the temporary measures (like the $8,000 credit) resulted in a 5% boost in home sales prices. If that is true, then these numbers actually represent a further DOWNWARD trend when you remove the temporary stimulus.

SteveF is just losing more money by the minute.

Ouch!