Example of Down Market

Wow, selling for a loss. And that's after almost three years.

I would not extrapolate too much from this listing. They advertise it as a 2 bedroom/2 bath when in reality it only has one legal bedroom. It otherwise looks lovely. But the 1 bedroom is probably why lots of potential buyers (including my wife and I) have passed this property over compltely.

I went out and showed an apt to one of my buyers a few weeks ago, in which the seller broker was one member of a very well known team and a very well known firm; not naming names of course.

Besides haveing much difficulty to even set up the appointment, the broker's spiel was, there are two full ask offers, not accepted yet. When I asked why, he got upset and said, 'Im not the seller, its not my call', but we better get a full ask bid in now. Then I described a scenario of a wall streeter I know trying to sell his place a bit below what he paid for it a year ago. The broker's response, 'why would he sell it for less than he bought it?'

I just had no response. Goes to show you that many brokers out there simply have no clue why things are slowing, and still throw out bullshit at each showing. I just dont get the purpose of insulting the buyers intelligence with crap like that these days.

Colgin - I do not understand your comment. It is the same apt as it was in 2005. So, the "Market" thought it was worth 1.655mm in 05, whether it is a 1 or 2 bedroom, but the "Market" does not believe that today, whether or not it is a 1 or 2 bedroom. If it was advertised in 05 as a 2 bed, but still sold for 1.655mm, would your opinion change?

You guys still do not understand the way it works. You start with how much commission the agent needs to make on the sale and then use that number to back into the price of the apartment. From there it would be silly to think that anyone would conceive to pay any less than that number.

Apt_Boy,

I take your point on the unit selling for less than what it traded in 2005. When I first read your post I missed the part about the price at which it had previously sold and just focused opn the recent price chops. In that context, I was trying to say that they had probably priced too aggressively for what was essentially a nice 1 bedroom and I would not read too much into that about the market for true 2 bedrooms. But you are right in your apples-to-apples comparison in terms of what it previously sold for and the fact that it would now be sold at a loss.

Colgin

Colgin - No worries

A friend recently looked at the Element new condo on 59 st. The developer previously was saying they give no concessions. When my friend asked what concessions they might make he was told make us an offer (on a 2 bedroom).

Apt_Boy- Stop showing the bulls the facts. They can't handle the truth. I actually may have to change my predictions. I thought that the downturn would take about a year to be in full swing. I have to say I have been watching the market very carefully and have seen tons of decreases of 7-10% already. And when you point this out to some people they just say it was over priced from the beginning or it still went up 15% compared to last year. They are just fooling themselves guessing that 95% of the bulls are either people who bought at the height or are Realtors who think that positive thinking can save the market. What's really sad is that people will still buy now because some idiot convinced them the market as bottomed. Things are deteriorating a lot faster than I thought. By the end of the year Manhattan and "it" areas like LIC, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Cobble Hill, Downtown BKLYN and others will see at least 20-30% reductions