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New York City is reeling after Amazon announced this week that the company no longer will build a major new campus in Long Island City. Some are celebrating, some are devastated, some are disillusioned, many are shocked and just about everyone has an opinion on this huge reversal of plans.

According to Nancy Wu, an economic data analyst at StreetEasy, Long Island City’s housing market will likely experience whiplash as a result of the latest news. After the initial announcement, sellers in the area increased asking prices, and interest from buyers and investors spiked. “We now expect asking prices and buyer interest to revert back to their pre-announcement levels,” Wu says. “The reversal highlights the risk inherent in speculative investment.”

As we continue to watch how the NYC and LIC real estate markets react to this news, here’s a rundown of what happened with Amazon and NYC, and how people around the country are reacting it.

The Long Island City Real Estate Market Went Boom

Long Island City home prices spiked amid a whirlwind of Amazon hype. In the five weeks after Amazon’s plans leaked, nearly 20 percent of homes for sale in Long Island City increased their price. In the five weeks before the announcement, not a single listing in the area had raised its price. [StreetEasy]

Meanwhile, buyer interest in Long Island City skyrocketed. In the days immediately following Amazon’s announcement, StreetEasy’s volume of buyer searches in Long Island City shot up 519 percent. [StreetEasy]

Then Amazon Dropped a Bomb

Amazon abruptly canceled plans to build a major corporate campus in Long Island City. Facing a major backlash from local activists, community groups and lawmakers, the tech giant backed out of its plans to build a second headquarters in Queens. [The New York Times]

LIC home-buyers are trying to back out. According to Ryan Serhant, Long Island City clients are trying walk away from deals inked in the wake of Amazon’s first announcement. [CNBC]

The company will not reopen its HQ2 search. The canceled 25,000 jobs that HQ2 would have brought to New York City will likely be spread across its existing satellite offices in North America. No further expansion is expected in Seattle. [Seattle Times]

Just before the announcement, news leaked that Amazon was taxed at an effective rate of negative 1 percent in 2018. New York offered Amazon nearly $3 billion dollars in tax breaks and incentives to build a second headquarters in Queens. [The New Yorker]

Many lawmakers are saying this is a start of a movement. Local politicians are proposing measures that would prevent the state from giving subsidies to corporations in the future. [City Lab]

Now Everyone Has Something to Say About It

Hold your applause. Progressive community groups and lawmakers may be celebrating now, but they could pay the price in the long run. [City and State]

Things will only get more confusing. Mayor De Blasio is appealing to the opposition, Governor Cuomo is not, and who knows what Jeff Bezos is up to. [New York Magazine]

You’ll be sorry, Bezos. According to one influential urban planner, Amazon should have played nice. [City Lab]

Amazon is bluffing. The company is shrewd when it comes to negotiating with local governments and this all part of its plan. [Barron’s]

New York looks like a loser. Hey! [CNN]

Amazon looks like a petulant child. So there! [Recode]

It’s good for the tech economy! New York City might have taken a hit, but the rest of the country’s tech economy will benefit. [Wall Street Journal]

What Other States Are Saying

We won! Virginia politicians feel their state is now the “sole winner” of the Amazon HQ2 prize. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

What can we learn from NYC? Nashville residents now feel angsty about Amazon’s presence and the potential for widening income inequality in Tennessee. [The Tennesseean]
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