Big, well-priced apartments are selling again

Similar flavor in this NY Mag article.

http://nymag.com/realestate/realestatecolumn/63189/

"What’s driving this? Those bonuses that everyone’s yelling about—and the accompanying halo effect. “People are hearing about bonus money and thinking they’re going to miss out,” says Kleier, explaining that buyers who’ve been on the fence may be thinking prices have bottomed out. Activity’s not just in the sub-seven-figure range, either, as was the case this fall. According to Streeteasy.com, 122 Manhattan properties priced between $1.5 million and $5 million went into contract between December 15 and January 15, up 171 percent from the same period a year ago. “It’s surprising, given the current climate,” acknowledges Sofia Song, the site’s vice-president of research. “But with these bonuses, you get a larger pool of buyers for this price range.” The sweet spot? Between $2 million and $3 million, which accounts for more than a third of those contracts.

Warburg Realty’s president, Frederick Peters, suggests that it’s not actually bonus money at work—just that buyers are generally more confident, and that “they don’t want to miss buying close to the trough.” (Crain’s New York reports that many bonuses may come in stock, not cash, anyway, mitigating their real-estate might.) This is not to say sellers ought to start licking their chops, however. Henckels says past discounts have done what they’re supposed to do—stoke sales—but there’s not enough clamor to raise prices. “It’s the busiest I’ve been in a long time,” says Kleier. “Whether this translates into signed contracts, it’s too early to see.” "

Well-priced apartments never stopped selling. That's the definition of "well-priced".

Yeah, well the eternal question is when are those fam-sized apts going to sell at historical rent/buy ratios.

You called? Sept 17. 2011.

> Well-priced apartments never stopped selling. That's the definition of "well-priced".

you beat me to the punch.... exactly.

amusing.

well, the brokers need SOMETHING...

I agree that any apartment will sell if it's priced low enough. But arguably, low is not always the same as well priced.

"low or not", if the apartment sells, and others aren't selling for more, it is well-priced.

Well-priced just happens to be waaay lower than some delusional folks think it is.

"Well-priced just happens to be waaay lower than some delusional folks think it is."

Agreed, but it's all a bit subjective until a place actually sells.

hahahahahaha, buy now or be priced out forever! What kind of morons are buying now? Prices are plummeting! I am amazed the Realtors have been able to spin this so anyone buys. A great way to lose a couple million dollars right now is to buy a 2.5 million dollar apartment!

Malcolm- As a broker you demonstrate the ignorance and stupidity of your profession. Can you define the price in a psqf rather than nominal asking? are you trying to create a demand over a limited supply? your posting is as unhelpful as your professional behavior.Decisions and supply and demand curve are based on data and not just meaningless numbers. I am searching for 3000sqf family unit can you help me with existing inventory? of course the answer is negative since your brain cells are dead.

Oh I gotz one. Newsflash! Girls that show cleavage get free beer at bars.

"Yeah, well the eternal question is when are those fam-sized apts going to sell at historical rent/buy ratios."

I think this argument is a touch flawed in the luxury market.

1. Most are in nice coops and are almost never available for rent.

2. The few that are periodically available for rent are usually quality/conditioned challenged.

P09, have you ever looked for a family-sized apartment to rent? Quite easy to find, pretty much in any neighborhood, and often with rent/buy ratios that favor renting more than smaller apartments.

I have, but I want the fairy tale. 3,000sq ft, 3+ beds, 3+baths, library, living room, dining room, eat in kitchen. CPW, RSD, 5TH or Park.

Isn't there a rental bldg in the 90s on CPW? Park-facing 7? There's also the Langham.

P09: sure, if you're fixated (like me) on prewar in prime locations, there's not much in the way of quality rentals. But most people aren't.

How about these?

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/500136-condo-25-columbus-circle-lincoln-square-new-york

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/472172-rental-353-central-park-west-upper-west-side-new-york

Or these:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/543864-condo-15-central-park-west-lincoln-square-new-york

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/586291-condo-15-central-park-west-lincoln-square-new-york

007, at least I'm not rude or cowardly, hiding behind the shield of anonymity. Call me, and I'll be happy to explain the errors in your post.

anon and w67thstreet - you guys sound like pathetic losers - sitting in your crummy rentals, eternally feeling jealous of those that can afford to buy...sad

malcolmnc
I read your blog and relying on "in contract" figures is seriously flawed.
But I understand you need to sell apartments and I don't beef you for that.
Though trying to make your argument in this community is something else and you will get called out.

If you've read any other threads on this site, you would see and know how easily "signed contract" figures can be manipulated.

Here's one thread to start with, and maybe,if sincere you'll realize how asinine it is to rely on "signed contract" figures.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/17313-ud-inventory-below-8000-discuss

And you should note, new listings that are "already in contract" do not get added to inventory figures but are added to in contracts whether they close or don't.

Peanut. I think you are confusing giddy with sadness. Let's take a test.
1) you get laid by q beautiful girl wo clap,
2) you get into havard on full scholarship,
3) avoiding $1.5mm equity azz wipe by buying into a bubble.

All giddy.

> 2) you get into havard on full scholarship,

The only "scholarships" at harvard are need-based.

FYI malcom. If you want negate something, the worst thing to do in marketing is to try to negate it by bringing it up. Case in point, if I was your marketing dude.

Let's say a $5 crack whore wants to set up website to selll her services but she wants her clientele to think she is high class. My #1 piece of advice would be for her to NOT use:
lindalovelace@not$5crackwhore.com domain name/email address.

Oh and another thing, you are peddling lemming juice you third rate borker with an MBA from harvarde on-line. Note th extra 'e'. Your lemming buyers might not figure it out, but you are a tool, a tool with an MBA that selling re for a living.

somewhereelse,

financial aid at harvard is need-based. scholarships are not. there are a large variety of merit-base scholarships and fellowships available to harvard undergraduate and graduate students. i do not believe any of these scholarships would come close to covering the full cost of an undergraduate education (the ones i received certainly didn't). graduate school, on the other hand, is very often covered by merit-based, rather than need-based, grants, scholarships, and fellowships.

folks, all BS aside could any of you recommend any good buildings in the upper east side that you would recommend buyers watch, that would qualify as being well run/well priced? looking for a 2 BR with a balcony. want an up market building under 2 million

Happyrenter, I must agree with somewhereelse. There are no strictly merit based scholarships for undergraduates at Harvard, not even athletic scholarships. None of the Ivys offer merit-only scholarships (without financial need).. For that, one must step down in status, for the likes of a Duke. This is, at least, their officially stated position.

happyrenter, i received some non-financial-based scholarships for an ivy. but they weren't given by my school. and my school reduced their award by 95% of the outside scholarship that i was given, so there was very little incentive to get outside awards.

it was all based on need.

aboutready, when I attended an Ivy, many many moons ago, everyone had need. Today, even schools that say that they give merit scholarships to National Merit Finalists, and such, when you read the not so fine print, they too must have need to receive the "merit scholarships". Fraudulant claims at best. Been there, done that, and with child number two, smarter and wiser, sent to a school where they were in the top 10% receiving full tuition scholarship. Folks without financial need today are insane if they insist on the IVY's for their kids. 160K saved, and the kid will probably go into the peace corp or Teach America, certainly not Cravath Swaine and Moore. With a nice egg nest. Hey, just one person's perspecive.

Harvard undergrad now gives some aid/relief to everyone there who's family make less than $200k or so, which I think is about 2/3rd of the student body. Students from families who make less than $60k pay nothing.

i had need (rather a lot of it). i received a national merit scholarship, but it was given by a corporation (my father's employer). my understanding was almost exactly the same as yours, gaongaon. yale would have appropriated the entire amount had i not had need. with need, they gave me a small break (5% of $4000 annually), a little bonus money, if you will. i will also note that they were very generous. they always calculated need as being greater than what the financial aid form people calculated.

i certainly don't need the kid to go to an ivy.

and i'll be hugely disappointed if she ever graces the offices of cravath.

guys,

i hate to tell you, but as a former harvard undergraduate i assure you that there are many, many merit-based scholarships and fellowships awarded to undergraduates by the university. many of these are called "prizes." they come with cash--sometimes a lot of cash--and they are awarded strictly based on merit. it is certainly true that harvard--like all members of the ivy athletic league, cannot and does not offer athletic scholarships.

the bullshit "john harvard scholarship" and "harvard scholarship," which go to the top 10% and top 20% by GPA, respectively, are honorary scholarships and come with no money. The well-known Detur Book Prize goes to the top-performing freshmen. sadly, all i got was a book. but after that i did some research and saw that there was all kinds of cash available, and eventually i wracked up several tens of thousands from the university in strictly merit-based $$.

now, what is true is that harvard has an enormous financial aid program based on need--it has need-blind admissions and will provide the financial aid necessary for any student to attend. this program is degrees of magnitude larger than the merit-based stuff i am talking about. but the merit programs do very much exist.

hr, i think it's different if you DO have need. yes, you can get merit scholarships, but the school reduces the amount it gives you proportionately. certain merit scholarships, if you don't have need, become the property of the school. i don't know about all of the merit programs.