How to go short the NYC housing market

it's as difficult as me shorting you...

Not true... Case Shiller / S&P indexe options are traded on CBOE.

You can do the NYC metro...

Please put all your sideline money down,...Please

Just to state the well-known...

CS futures on options are for the NY "metro" (tri-state) area and include virtually no Manhattan residential properties as it only includes private "houses."

In addition, New York futures are already selling at a one-year discount of about 15% to current spot. So, in order to make money on them you have to believe that the CS "metro" NY index will decline more than 15% over the next year. (The futures market isn't stupid!)

Should read:

CS futures and options...

THe actual CS index does in fact include quite a bit of NYC coops and condos...are you saying the CBOE product is different than the actual index? That does not sound right at all.

I'm quite sure you're wrong on this, jason. Only houses - of which there are very few in Manhattan - a.k.a., "townhouses."

CBOE product is keyed off the CS index.

SRS may be short RE in general. It's leveraged. Check it out.

SRS, along with SKF, FAZ, and the other leveraged etf's are awful long term investments, whether you're bullish or bearish. I'd advise you to stay away.

Try UMM and DMM, two new levered ETFs (one up, one down, you figure out which is which). They are tied to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Composite 10 Home Price index. Proceeds of the shares are invested in U.S. government bills to ensure liquidity. If the index moves up, the trust behind the Down shares will shift a corresponding portion of its assets to the Up shares trust, raising the net asset value underlying the Up shares. The share prices follow. Theoretically.

Borrow someone's apartment and sell it immediately. Then, later, when you want to return it, buy it back at the lowered price and return it to the original owner. Pocket the difference. Easy.

"Try UMM and DMM, two new levered ETFs"

Just one problem: They aren't trading yet. We're TOLD they will start trading this month. We were also told that in August...

srs has performed terribly since November -- the expectation is that the market was going to continue to fall over time so people overpaid.

Assuming you have a definite housing need in NYC, rent.

Don't throw your money away in those leveraged etf's. They're a complete debacle for anything more than a day trade.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10454678/1/why-short-sector-etfs-arent-so-smart.html?puc=_etf_html_pla2&cm_ven=EMAIL_etf_html

The CS has an index does include coops and condos as well as detached homes - see here for condo prices

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_csmahp/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,6,0,0,0,0,0.html

You can short REITs that have a large exposure to NYC real estate. For instance, SL Green (SLG) has a crappy portfolio of lower tier office properties. It's not 'housing' but it's still NYC real estate.