Friday News Roundup: New York, NY, a Wonderful Town? Foreclosures Up, Apartment Sales Down

A survey by the real estate brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel found that during the first quarter of 2009, Manhattan apartment sales dropped 47.6 percent from first quarter 2008. Co-op sales specifically fell 59 percent, with median prices dropping 22 percent, to $587,500.

Another survey, by The Corcoran Group and Propertyshark.com, found new developments the hardest hit, dropping 67 percent in the same comparison period. Also suffering the most are luxury apartments, according to a survey by Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens, which reported an 87 percent drop in closings for Manhattan condos and co-ops costing more than $10 million. That survey put the number of co-op and condo closings down 58 percent.

However, says the Elliman/Samuel report, the median sales price actually went up 3 percent — though the survey notes this figure includes units sold in 2007 at pre-downturn prices but only having closed in first quarter 2009. The median sales price otherwise was done 20.9 percent, to $732,000, from a year ago.

Corcoran Group Pam Liebman told The New York Times that despite stunted sales at the high end, sales of studios and one-bedroom apartments are up — most often purchased by first-time buyers unencumbered by the need to sell their existing home. "Manhattan," she said, "has become affordable again."

Foreclosures Up from Last Quarter, Down from Last Year

April 3, 2008 — A Curbed.com analysis of a Propertyshark.com report released yesterday finds that foreclosure filings in New York City are up 14 percent in first quarter 2009 compared to fourth quarter 2008 — but down 5 percent overall from last year.

Brooklyn seems to be recovering, with a 74 percent drop in new foreclosure filings from the previous quarter, and Manhattan had only 17 new foreclosures, compared to 22 last quarter — which, it must be said, made up the huge bulk of last year's Manhattan foreclosures, since there was just one throughout the rest of the year.

Newest Co-op/Condo Buzz Phrase: "Rent-to-Buy"

April 3, 2008 — Co-op and condo boards can look at it as either one more hassle to have to deal with or as an opportunity to generate needed income from otherwise empty units. As New York Post blogger Max Gross writes, Manor Properties Group, developer of The Dover condominium in Harlem, has come up with a rent-to-buy option. That neither-fish-nor-fowl hybrid probably isn't covered in most board's bylaws, charter or other primary documents, but it might be worth discussing at your next meeting whether to allow this with current owners looking to sell their unit.

The Dover method involves what Manor calls a fully refundable 3 percent deposit toward the $665,000 asking price. The deposit goes into escrow, you pay $2,700 monthly rent for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit, and, after a year, you can put an accumulated $24,000 (the $19,950 deposit plus $4,500 from interest and a portion of your rent) toward buying the unit. In this particular case, Manor picks up the closing costs.

It's a new and untested model, but if it helps keep strapped sellers from missing monthly payments or, heaven forbid, foreclosing because they couldn't find a buyer in time, then it's an option worth discussing.