By Pamela Engel 7/14/11 9:02am

apartments

Get out of my way!

Plenty of Brooklyn Apartments For Sale

It would seem by a new report that there are either (a) a lot of people leaving Brooklyn; or (b) a lot of opportunities to move to Brooklyn. It’s got to be (b), right?

The number of homes offered for sale in the BroBo paradise jumped 11.5 percent annually in the second quarter, according to a new report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, and the average number of days spent on the market hit 142 days, up from 103 days during the same time last year.

More apartments and brownstones gone wanting? For a month-plus longer than last year? What gives? Read More

By Matt Chaban 7/13/11 8:58am

Parties

Seal in '06. Those were the days.

Salesmanship in D Minor: The Real Estate Party Returns, In a Way

Gregory Spock is used to performing librettos before rapt audiences in concert halls from Hartford to Florence. Recently, the 26-year-old has found more intimate venues within the exposed-brick walls of New York townhouses. A Roland keyboard or a baby grand to his right, a pink bow tie around his neck, a songbook in his hands—Verdi always wows `em—Mr. Spock delivers bursts of baroque beauty, all for salesmanship.

Mr. Spock joined Manhattan brokerage Rubicon Property four months ago, after receiving his broker’s license in the winter. He said his new boss liked him for his creativity, which means saving money on those showings.

“A lot of people have food or wine now, but the entertainment isn’t thought out.”

Because who isn’t lulled into signing a multi-million dollar contract by the plaintive moans of Aida?

During last decade’s real estate boom, the real estate party, usually in a newly built condo tower, was a staple of the industry. After the recession hit, nobody could much afford them. Now they seem to be hobbling back, along with the real estate market. Read More

By Pamela Engel 7/08/11 11:19am

apartments

They all look the same, really.

We All Pay the Same Manhattan Rents Now

As it turns out, we’re all screwed (except uptown)—the latest second-quarter data from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel shows there isn’t much discrepancy between rents on the East Side, West Side and downtown in Manhattan. And the net rates just keep on rising. Read More

By Tom Acitelli 7/01/11 11:38am

The Lab

You, under this.

Co-ops vs. Condos: Co-ops Winning Again

Co-ops are the dominant form of for-sale housing on our fair isle, more difficult to get into (persnickety boards that have recently gotten that much more uppity) and generally more expensive to buy (bigger down payments and more stringent financial requirements). They account for roughly two-thirds of the Manhattan housing stock, with condos comprising much of the rest.

But, for a while there during the last decade, condos overtook co-ops as the preferred housing choice, maybe due to looser mortgages or just the simple ubiquity of all those gleaming, new towers. This reporter recalls offhand a study done by The Real Deal magazine that showed more than 9,000 condos proposed for Manhattan in 2005 alone—and most of them subsequently got built.

It appears, though, that the dowager has risen. Read More