Sale at 40 West 15th Street #5A

AR, i think many sellers think that the market is coming back. I'm in the market for a similar product and price point, and most of the brokers I spoke with were confident that this market is bouncing back and would not entertain offers that were not close to ask. Recently, it is true, that some of the properties that I have been monitoring are in contract that I never thought had a chance. I would actually say to myself 'how did this broker get this listing into contract?' so regarding 40 West 15, either seller doesn't really need to sell, and has time on his hands, or a broker is confident she will be able to get a seller close to this price? Only in NY.

i look in a few areas. downtown is just crazy. midtown east they can't give the places away, although the product isn't as nice. but hell, for $700k you can do your own renovations with plenty of money to spare. price chopping left and right. i guess downtown they are holding out for the newly rich traders that will be receiving their stock options this winter. good luck to that. inventory is still over 9500.

i went through 50 or so downtown OH listings, at least 2/2s, under $2mm. and then gave up. we'll be looking in midtown instead.

I know, I agree, I just can't agree to buy (and spend that much money)in an area that i don't love. I am really hoping that downtown will come down in price. I'm open to several areas downtown, just hoping that prices become realistic. how long do you think it will take for prices to be realistic?

who knows. there's so much free money sloshing around. my family actually vetoed the excursion uptown. i'm not convinced that we'll ever buy, but they tell me they're not willing to consider anything other than downtown. so we're going out this beautiful day to look at overpriced apartments. i still haven't been seeing any that are closing at these levels, yet, so i guess we'll just have to see if the sellers can get their prices, which seem to me to have risen back to about mid-2007 levels. i doubt it, but i've been surprised by prices many a time before.

if they don't have to sell, that's one thing. the other thing to remember is that quite a few of the units, condo particularly, entered the rental market, many at a loss, over the last year or so. many of those will be popping back on the market, along with many that were unable to sell and taken off over the past 6-12 months.

With some properties, it's like Whack-a-Mole, and not just at that price point. Sellers of cookie-cutter 2/2s in good areas are still convinced that if they just give it another six months on the market they'll find some sucker to pay over $1m; a few do, but mostly it's a merry-go-round. Do post any likely prospects, AR, if you're willing to share? And I'm glad you're feeling better.

i agree on the rentals, but i think that a majority of the units that went rental were in new developments. How many units do you think went rental that were originally for sale not in new developments? i don't think many. in the current market conditions to purchase anything at $1.5M the down payment (30-40% down payment), and the monthly mortgage payment with fees is probably 1.5X more then renting a similar unit.

evnyc, i'm not ready to buy, so i'm happy to share anything good that i find. we used to have a thread for properties that ought to trade. i haven't seen many of those lately downtown, but i've seen a few. i like rewarding the sellers who've adjusted expectations to where the market has been trading. i look at 2/2s in all sizes and up to about $2.5mm. so i'll report back.

after my fit of irritation, and in response to my family's dictates, i went back more carefully through the downtown listings, excluding below the villages. there were a few things that, while still expensive, seemed roughly in line with recent market transactions, particularly if the seller would accept a 5-10% reduction from list.

thanks. i am happy to be about to go out and about.

dledven, new developments can have a different connotation here. i'm not talking about the huge, largely unsold developments. i'm talking about places like 260 PAS and the Chelsea Mercantile. the Merc can be considered new development, but it's a world apart in terms of investment wisdom from some of the other new developments. i'm looking at coops as well, but i'd really prefer a condo.

i'm not close to buying. i may never. when i say that something is priced appropriately, i mean for today's market. as time goes on, it is likely more buyers will be selling at a loss. and some banks will be selling properties. i'll happily pay a certain premium over renting, but not in a market like this, and not a 1.5-2.0 times ratio. soldier on.

AR: I can see you either buying into PCV or raw loft space. It's a pain, but have you ever considered buying a building or chunks of a building and converting with some other people?

I'm confused about this market. Although there are the various price chopper threads on here, when I start looking at particular units for sale the price is basically never back at say 2005 type prices, and often seems to still be at near peak. And then so-called troubled developments like Edge and NSP are hardly cutting prices much (except for a few units at nsp1).

There are quite a few actual comps back at 2005 prices on the UWS. Where are you looking?