NYT: Making a Comeback: $200,000 Studios

it gets even better...alcove studios are now out there for low $300's....Lincoln Towers studios were in the mid $400 now they're showing asking prices of $319k.

THanks for the article. Having read it, it strikes me that none are true bargains, and this isn't great news. On a price psf basis they are about 750 and up. These little tiny places should be even cheaper, and will be I suspect. This whole article illustrates the distortion effect of bubble pricing -- people see a discount vs. peak and think it's a bargain.

julia! first time happy in a year!

Jim -- all true, but at least the NYT is doing what it can to bring advertisers back. They no longer have a 2nd folio [is that the word I mean?] in the Sunday RE section -- I guess there's no inventory to sell or something.

Julia -- are you now in the studio market, or 1 BRs?

Also, when do you suppose the Sunday NYT "Residential Sales Around the Region" feature will bump the price categories back down? I believe the lowest, <$400K, used to be $300K, and before that $250K.

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/04/10/realestate/12ressales.html

Don't get your hopes up on the $200k studios. I'm willing to bet that most of them are in land lease buildings with insane maintenances. In fact, if you guys remember, I posted a $200k studio on the east side in the 60s a few months back that was land lease.

"Also, when do you suppose the Sunday NYT "Residential Sales Around the Region" feature will bump the price categories back down?"

Never. The NY Times does not like poor people. That's why almost all of their articles are about $2 million + RE.

alan...i'm thinking of looking for a rental when my lease is up in Nov. but if prices keep falling I don't know.

rentals will keep on falling too julia, so spend time looking for a good rental too or make your landlord lower your rent.

Very interesting about that studio at 333 East 53 Street. Unless they recently changed their policy, parents could not buy for their children nor could they be co-guarantors. I looked at some of the other listings in the building and the policy is still in place with those apartments. So unless they are loosening their policy, I would steer clear of that building if I was looking for a low priced apartment. Those low priced apartments are hard to sell when the co-op board becomes very strict with the financials --especially when it comes to first time buyers with little "left over" money. Good for that seller if they can find a buyer who passes muster with the board, but heaven help THAT buyer when they want to sell. I'd be very careful about buying into that building.

alpine, the article mentioned some of the maintenances and they were normal. jim is right: why would you want to pay 750 psf of a dark, tiny hole?

Still not a bargain. Assuming studio ownership is contemplated as less than a 5-year investment, one has to worry about the ability to sell it when you're ready to move up. Rent.

The article talks about building equity. This makes the bullish assumption that one can receive at least what one paid for the unit. If we are in a declining market, and we might be, there will be no equity for most holding periods under 15 years in a declining market. So what is the point exactly of buying what one can rent for less?

Julia, this entered contract asking $309k, closing could well be under the 300k mark.

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/385091-coop-180-west-end-avenue-lincoln-square-new-york

Lincoln Towers studios seem to be in a free fall...the maintenance is high and the bldgs remind me of stuy town. But if they go down to mid $200's who knows.

I went to see one of these apartments, and laughed when the broker said the owner would not negotiate the price. Well if the owner won't negotiate the price, I'm sure the market will be happy to do it for them!! HAHAHA!

$psf has historically been higher in smaller apts. Sorta like the theory of buying in bulk (a bigger apt), the base cost is lower. Disclaimer: I didn't look at the article or any of the links... my comment was just a general one, since I've been in and out of the sub-$400K market for the last 7 years or so. So, I've seen tons of cheap places.

What was that claim about the decline only hitting the high end again?

Lincoln Towers is not a bad building. Yeah, the outside sucks, but who cares? The inside is what counts. And the lobby is wonderful and completely renovated.

regarding Lincoln Towers why is the maintenance so high for studios...is it a land lease complex?

Lincoln Towers is a glorified project... similar to co-op village.

agreed... but it is tempting because the studios are very large and the prices are coming way down.

give me a freakin' break nyc10022. Have you ever been inside Lincoln Towers? In case you haven't, the inside is MUCH nicer than the outside. The lobby is updated, the apartments are large and have lots of closets, and many of them have HUGE terraces. And as someone who grew up in co-op village, I have no choice but to punch you through the monitor for that statement.

no, Lincoln Towers is not land lease.

inside LT is not bad; there seem to be lots of people with phobias about the place