Existing home sales plunge in March (Yahoo)

I wonder if it's finally going to bring down prices in Manhattan!

Or Brooklyn

probably not considering you and so many people have been hoping it would for the last 3 years.

newsflash: Prices ARE down year over year in Manhattan.

Manhatten prices are down 7.25% for the 1st quarter of this year (2007) compared to last (2006). Prices are predicted to drop an additional 25 to 30% for the remainder of the calendar year...BEWARE!!!

#6-- Its Manhatt*a*n. No way you live here and do not know that. You could be retarded though.

Median was up, that is what matters....

http://www.truegotham.com/archives/market-insight-1q-manhattan-real-estate-market-report-released-today.html

- Median sales price up (1.2%) to $835,000 as compared to the same period last year. Prices are generally stable with some price spikes at the upper end.

I am looking for a 3Br and they are as expensive as ever if you want something good.

The properties you want are always more expensive then what you can afford. That is the nature of things. 3 br, 2 br, 1 br - whatever you can afford its all relative.

Also 3Br shopper havent you read all the publications or noticed the increase of people raising children in Manhattan. There is a change going on here. Families use to run to the burbs but not anymore. Your smart you can afford a 3 br, you should know that.

To poster #6 who stated "...Manhatten prices are down 7.25% for the 1st quarter of this year (2007) compared to last (2006). Prices are predicted to drop an additional 25 to 30% for the remainder of the calendar year..." - exactly from WHERE did you pull this info from? Out of your ass?

#11, I second that!

#6, where are you getting your numbers from? Also, is the "7.25% decline" in the listing prices? or actual sales prices?

Anyone who touts a 'prediction' of price changes is full of it..

#11 herea gain:

Actually, I find poster #6's assertion that the MANHATTAN real estate market will fall by 25% or more (!) by the end of the calendar year 2007 to be the stupidest, most retarded thing I've heard on this board - EVER!

#12: You said that median prices are up 1,2% - does that number account for inflation? I think that prices in Manhattan will not fall, they will rather stay flat for a while. Adjusted for inflation that translates to a price drop, although normatively the prices seem to edge up one percent a year.

DO NOT trust that median prices are up... that is not as good an indicator as these more specific data points:

- median price of studio and one-bedroom apartments fell 2.3 percent to $390,000 and $635,000
- the price of two-bedroom units fell 2.8 percent to $1.3 million
- three bedrooms declined 1.2 percent to $3.1 million

Interesting how the media spins the article title and focuses on the median, but if you ACTUALLY READ the article, near the end you will see these statistics. hmmmm...

Source: Bloomberg
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&refer=home&sid=aVdueuOE8F4c

MMAfia

Wow! Now that the market has plunged 1.2% for for a 3 bedroom, maybe now I can afford one!

:/

Ooooooooooooooh...the market has plunged 1 - 2%! To think that I could have continued throwing 3K a month down the toilet on rent so that I might realize all of these huge savings. What was I thinking? I should have thought to BEWARE.

Jesus...get a life. And a calculator.

Lies, damn lies and statistics...All these nationwide figures-when will the Manhattan market be correlated with them? Is everyone here trying to be an investor or do people need a nice place to live in?

Folks, relax. I am in no way implying that the Manhattan market is tanking.

The fact that you have taken such a defensive stance to my post indicates that you are harboring some insecurities regarding housing prices.

I was merely stating that statistics can be misleading and due diligence *must* be done- otherwise, you will just be played by the MSM.

Having said that, there is a new article being circulated that talks about how "the tightening of credit in response to rising subprime defaults has disrupted the real estate food chain, bringing the national housing slump to Manhattan's doorstep".

Remember the Plankton theory I was talking about in an earlier post? Well, the theory is gaining popularity in MSM (which as stated above, must be read carefully to avoid getting played by them).

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aHBopkXhEA24&refer=home

"It" is knocking on Manhattan's door... time will tell to see if "it" forces its way in.

MMAfia

I have been looking at prices for 3 bedrooms in Manhattan very closely for a while now. Prices definitely dipped in Q4 2006. That was the time to get back in the market. There clearly was a rush of buyers in Q1 taking out the inventory. I agree that prices are crazy, but I don't think prices will drop much in 2007 as Wall Street is still doing well and more and more families are staying in NYC. Two of my colleagues in Banking purchased homes in Q1 after bonus season. I defitinitely think there is over-building in certain areas of Manhattan right now but good buildings continue to sell and I don't think there will be signicant movement in prices for now. Who knows about 2008.

I think house prices dip in winter just because the climate is rougher. Less open houses, less street appeal, etc. etc. By corollary, the market should be blooming like cherry trees.

It's not.
It's not.
It's not.

People are going to find their houses are millstones around their necks.
People that can will take their money out of housing. By this or next winter the media is going to be talking about the newfound wisdom: the felicitous convenience of renting...

Took the plunge in Q4 '06-because I knew bonuses will come out starting christmas time. Got a nice break on the asking price on a new cons-up 200K
now.

#11:

It is.
It is.
It is.

Renters will find their ever increasing rents to be a millstone around their nesck (let alone the fact that they have NO CONTROL over their home, and whther they can be kicked out or have their rents raised whenever...)

By nest winter the media is going to be talking about all the smart buyers who got into the maeket at historic interest rate lows and locked in a sweet deal for the next thirty years while the rents in NYC keep going up 3%-5% ANNUALLY, way faster than COLA increases.