Anticipating the Deluge

"Condo sales also fell sharply, but because many of the sales that closed were in new buildings where expensive apartments had been in contract for many months, average sale prices actually rose."

Bulls will probably use this information to claim that prices haven't really fallen by much, or that there is a bright spot in the market. That would be pathetic and delusional, but they'll probably do it.

wow "Only 10 co-ops costing more than $4 million sold in the first quarter, a decline of 80 percent compared with the same quarter last year."

so at the end of the day, forced sellers might end up being the newly unemployed real estate brokers (instead of ex wall streeters). when the wave of foreclosures started in california i was shocked when seeing that a lot of them were mortgage brokers and real estate agents. somehow i thought they were mostly sellers of the kool aid, not the first victims.

Rut-roh.

This information lays bare the wasteland for which realtors must come to terms. Over 65% declines in potential revenues is game changing. Moreover, sellers will need to reset expectations as market peak marks fade into memory. The savvy buyer is in a powerful negotiating postition.

"A few weeks ago, Laurie Tisch, the daughter of Preston Robert Tisch, the late chairman and co-owner of the Loews Corporation, paid $29 million for a two-bedroom apartment on the 13th floor of 834 Fifth Avenue, one of the great apartment buildings on the avenue."

Shnoinks!

$14.5 million per bedroom!!

the tisch are super wealthy, in part thanks to menthol cigarettes. sad but true.

Today I got 60 listings from StreetEasy for my search but very few of them were under 1100 per square foot. Knowing that square footage is usually inflated, these apartments are still overpriced, in my opinion. I just don't see prices reflecting desperate sellers in a depressed market. I'm waiting for reality to set in, but I feel we are still at a buyer/seller stalemate. I don't want to, but I can wait.

From a piece in Friday's Wall Street Journal, 'Hard Times in Nantucket':

"There's a familiar story in most real estate crashes: First the buyers vanish, then inventory piles up, and only then -- normally after a long and painful process of resistance -- do sellers get real and drop prices."

Re: I don't want to, but I can wait.

Why not? What's the hurry? You can't rent for one more year in order to buy real estate at an additional 40%+ discount? You'd rather waste hundreds of thousands of dollars because you're simply impatient? that's silly.

West34, I don't think it's fair to harsh on NYRENewbie's statement. I don't think he meant that he is going to jump in now, just because it's annoying that apartments are still overpriced compared to renting.