LIC market seems to be doing well

what % of contracts "out" generally become contracts signed? And what % of signed contracts become sold?

nyc10022, this is a good point. Contracts out can easily go unsigned, though I would say that a vast majority of signed contracts turn into sales. Even in this market.

I'm in OK financial shape," says Alexandra Bauer, who just bought a two-bedroom condo at 125 N. 10th St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for $762,500. Because she works in the financial sector, Bauer thought it wouldn't be too difficult to get a mortgage, but she saw firsthand just how rigorous lending standards became. "But if you can meet those lending standards, it's a great time to be a buyer."

"Obviously, buying power has been reduced," says Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty. "This creates a smaller buyer pool and less demand. What buyers need to do in this market is make sure they're pre-qualified."

Gee that sounds familiar, smaller buying pool, I wonder how that will affect the market?

LICC- What does almost 100 units actually mean. Even if it's 100 exactly, only 80 to go.

Now that you have started with LIC, how about an update on some of the popular buildings progress.

Hey dco! How are you? I thought you would comment on this post.
Did you read the full article? It's pretty interesting.

LICComment- Ofcourse, Actually if the facts were true, that the star has signed contracts, on 100 units in the last 3 months, I would be impressed. I just don't know how much is true. Developers and Brokers are losing credibility, on a daily basis. Who do you believe? The CEO's keep telling us, that there is no liquidity problem and will not need to raise more money, only to be proven a week later, they need to raise Billions. The point is as the market deteriorates, information becomes much more murky.

If I remember correctly, this was a similar quote from the Star developer several weeks ago in the NY Times.

lic has defied current market conditions. ask any arris lofts buyer.

dco, I agree that you should take statements with a grain of salt, but that quote was from the developer himself and was very specific.

Did you see this article: http://www.queenswest.com/neighborhood/discussion/482415421

Looks like LIC is doing very well, with strong demand.

Yes, I agree. That article gives the impression that LIC is doing great.

Bill Staniford, CEO of Property Shark, said Long Island City has one of the more promising markets in the five boroughs, relatively speaking.

The top buyers "are definitely going to take a hit, but if they're in it for the long term, they'll be OK in five to 10 years," said Staniford. "If you bought at the peak, then everybody is going to lose some value."

That's the most toubling statement.

"be OK in five to 10 years"

Shouldn’t that be the minimum timeframe for holding real estate anyway? Glad things are back to normal and people can stop using home ownership as a get rich quick scheme.

That is the only part of the article you saw dco? Did you see the sections on how prospective Manhattan buyers are now looking at LIC, and how the area is getting more and more retail, and how prices are correlated to Manhattan?

I guess you were right, LIC will fair better then the rest of the city. After all, word on the street is, people are looking to relocate from Manhattan. I love your enthusiasm. Watch your step, you just might make me start trolling the net, for some Bear articles. Enjoy the good press.haha.

Long Island City seems like a place that people would only want to live in temporarily, or might be stuck there based on their own economic conditions.

LIC news this week.... one bankruptcy, one building that might be 50% sold.

I guess folks can read in what they want, but I'm not sure I'd call that "doing well".

sucks for ppl that bought into the hype of loft style living at arris.. that area is nothing like the vernon blvd area in terms of development of retail and sense of community.

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/309094-condo-27-thomson-avenue-long-island-city-long-island-city

100 units in contract, ha?

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/building/42_26-28-street-long_island_city

Says "0" units in contract. I guess that means they're off by 10. Because using LICC's always bad math, 10 + 0 = 100.

Why would you rely on streeteasy to know how many units are in contract? Hmm, more bizarro, wrong logic from steve. Interesting . . .

I have no clue how many units are in contract. But you definetly can not ascertain how many in contract based on Streeteasy's information. Streeteasy is useful for some things but relies on what the broker/marketing update.
In contract is very difficult to gage. Better to use streeteasy for what's available and what has closed.

"Why would you rely on streeteasy to know how many units are in contract?"

Because the listings are removed as no longer active. The fact is, only 9 apartments are currently listed, none as in contract.

Why would you rely on the sales manager to know how many units are in contract? It's in his interest to make people think the development isn't where it actually is - near bankruptcy.

steve, I was tracking a new dev that closed last year and seemingly had a ton of removed listings. Then all of a sudden, dozens of closed apartments hit Streeteasy all at once.

aifamm, that may be true. But the opposite is also true: lots of "contracts" that never make it to closing.

"Why would you rely on the sales manager to know how many units are in contract? It's in his interest to make people think the development isn't where it actually is - near bankruptcy."

Where do you think Streeteasy gets its data from? Tea leaves? Magic 8 balls? Stone tablets sent down from a mountain?

steve, you either are very dense or like to play dumb a lot. streeteasy will only list what the brokers have publicly listed. As far as I know, Star Tower has sold plenty. I know of two people who just went to contract last week. I really don't believe that you don't know better than that regarding streeteasy listings.

Streeteasy is indeed pretty unreliable for "in contract" updates - I have to completely disagree with stevejhx here. It is also true that some contracts don't close, but that's always been true - nothing new here. You could make the claim that this is happening more frequently now, but I'd like to see some good data before making that kind of assertion.

"how prospective Manhattan buyers are now looking at LIC"

How many of those might there be?

"and how the area is getting more and more retail"

Now there's a Duane Reade!

"and how prices are correlated to Manhattan?"

So are the prices in Yonkers, to one degree or another.

"It is also true that some contracts don't close, but that's always been true"

Recently, with job losses, it's becoming the trend.

"Where do you think Streeteasy gets its data from?"

When they record a contract, it's more likely that there is a contract, rather than someone just saying, "I know two people who just bought...."

That only leaves 98 to go.

therealdeal.com had an article this week where they noted that new condo construction sales have grounded to a halt... and simply because most of the volume is there, they point out a lot in LIC and WB.

East Coast building apparently just announced major cuts and giveaways today...

http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/6794-the-view-at-east-coast-price-reductions

There has'nt been a better time to buy in LIC, now is the time to buy in LIC. Buy now or be priced out forever in LIC, catch that falling knife and buy that depreciating asset in LIC. LMBBAO

Why stop there?

buy two. Three. Hell, buy 'em all!

some units in LIC are not even prime in location, even by LIC standards. At the foot of the QB Bridge. Queens Plaza? Not ideal at all.