In New York, a Sprinkling of Higher Prices

>BUICK! YACK! RETCH!

Come on Falcogold, even the talking ape from west 67th street makes more sense than that. And he owns a Porsche! Yacht! Rolex!

By sprinkling does the crack nytimes re writer mean:
A) At the airport in heathrow, with open toe sandals I was peeing at a urinal. I felt a sprinkling of something and I hoped to god that it wasn't the guy next to me; or
B) sprinkling portending a huge downpour
C) a drop of water from an overflowing condensation trap 6 floors up
D) r they the same ninnies who never saw the bubble, never admitted their part in the bubble, r writers as much as Ali is a successful Harvard grad?

I am afraid the article would have been more meaningful two months back before SPX went down more than 15%. The recorded sales will still be strong for 2 months as these listings went into contract before downturn. In my view (full disclosure just bought), the manhatan prime real estate will be soft (down 2-3%) in the next few months despite very low rates which have reduced carrying cost by 10-15% compared to three months back. Rents will stay firm.

Thank you falcogold1 because I saw this and flipped. Citi Spire at West 56th, if you look at available listings there is one 2BR that is on the market for 53 days and all the rest are 177-over 500 days on the market. I was interested in this building until I figured it out ages ago. This is a load of crap and the Times is beneath SE as I have always stated. Buy now or be price out For Never! It really made me crazy. That's all.

bill, I am very pro-Midtown West (I own a condo on W. 56th street in the Vendome) but I think CitySpire is a little bit of a special case:

1) it's very 80s, which are designs/floorplans/fixtures that are a little out of favor;
2) it's a view tower in a neighborhood which is getting a new view tower -- so if you want to live at the top of the world, why not wait?

That having been said, two 2-BRs have sold this year, and one of the ones that you noticed has been sitting is now in contract.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Ah yes, good ol' City Spire. Here's a unit that sold for $2.8M last year:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/493520-condo-150-west-56th-street-midtown-new-york

Then it was put on the market for rent 9 months, maybe someone took it for $8K or so, maybe they just pulled it:

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/684506-condo-150-west-56th-street-midtown-new-york

Yep, that's a indication of a healthy building: one where you cannot rent your unit out at a price-to-rent of 25-30x, except maybe after 9 months of trying.

As I keep saying, there have been a lot of sales in our neighborhood, too. We're in the West 150s and traditionally places used to sit for a bit. Now it seems they sell reasonably fast and for solid prices. I don't know if it's the new charter school on 157th or if there is a general pickup in the area. Personally, I'm of a buyer mentality because there is simply no way I could do the type of investing I see discussed on here with any real result. So for my family, RE is my "safest" investment but I confess I'd be a little anxious unless I had a rock solid job like a physician or some niche profession.

>Yep, that's a indication of a healthy building: one where you cannot rent your unit out at a price-to-rent of 25-30x, except maybe after 9 months of trying.

This isn't some Union Square apartment bought by a freelance writer 20+ years ago for whom any rental income is a windfall. These owners would rather have someone who isn't a pain in the ass than worry about $2K / month additional rent, so they are going to reject the punk jackasses who come in with their "hey buddy" style of negotiating and let the place sit for the right tenant.

I see "outliers" where NYT sees some special types of premium apartments. I just posted a ridiculously long post on my blog riffing off of the Toy analysis (2 parts)

Short story: Lion's Head histories do NOT support "micromarkets" theory; 72 Mercer St sales are limited and equivocal; City Spire histories are not helpful to "micromarkets" theory; and Butterfield House history is awkward, at best.

Nice try for a Grand Unified Theory of (Likely) Market Outliers, but the 'theory' does not hold up as *an* explanation, is not really supported by the anecdotes, and cannot be used to predict anything. Otherwise, it is interesting stuff (honest!)

If you care, Part 1 is here:

http://www.realtown.com/sandymattingly/blog/market-trends/riffing-with-toy-ny-times-about-higher-prices-sprinkled-through-manhattan-including-in-the-loft-market/

Thanks Ali for your input. I too am quite pro-Midtown West. That neighborhood changed in way that works for me the same way the UWS did when I was younger. Before that it was UES or nothing.