New York City Yields To Housing Crisis [Housing Tracker]

Quote of the Day

"That's when I started realizing there was not much of a (cost) difference between new and (a foreclosure).” - Jose A. Nuno and his wife, Gabriela, of Manteca, California. The Nuno’s are first-time home buyers who were going to buy a foreclosed house, but then decided to buy a new house from a homebuilder. (Record.net, Sept. 2)

"When you talk about resale, it's very hard to make the case that the typical apartment today is worth more than it was six months ago.” – Jonathan Miller, president of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, about the Manhattan real estate market.  (NY Sun, Aug. 29)

House Price/Sales Data

City Feels the Economic Pinch, but It’s Only a Pinch, So Far. “The effect of the mortgage crisis and the decline in real estate values has not been as severe in New York as in other parts of the country. While foreclosures are mounting fast in some sections of the city, particularly in Queens and Brooklyn, housing values in the metropolitan area have fallen much more slowly than in some other big cities, like Los Angeles and Miami. Overall, home prices in the NY City region dropped about 7% in the last year, compared with almost 16% nationally, according to the S&P/Case-Schiller index.” (NY Times, Sept. 2)

Nonprofit Group Shifts Strategies To Provide Affordable Housing. Maryland: “Homes for America, an Annapolis-based affordable-housing provider, is rolling out its new Homeownership Assistance Program… The city Community Development Department also kicks in money from its community development block grant revenue to help out with down payments. Qualified applicants can receive up to $5,000 from the city… Trudy McFall, founder of Homes for America: So far… Homes for America has only been able to help place one family into a home in Eastport… Part of the skepticism toward the program is born out of a perception that there are few affordable houses available in Annapolis, Ms. McFall said.” (Hometown Annapolis, Sept. 2) 

Pangs of Seller’s Remorse in Miami Market. Florida: “Miami Home value declines… have been significant. Case-Shiller index: Prices of previously-owned single-family homes in Miami fell by 28.3% over the last year, second only to Las Vegas [-28.6%]… Much of the downward pressure has come from banks trying to offload distressed properties… As of last week, 24% of the roughly 34,000 single-family homes for sale in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties — and 20% of the 47,000 condominiums — were listed as potential short sales… For many sellers, the culture of constantly rising real estate prices has been hard to shake, and now a new condition has appeared: seller’s regret, or flashbacks to offers past.” (NY Times, Aug. 31) 

Goldman Sachs Spokesman Buys $7M UWS Townhouse. NYC: “Lucas van Praag, the global head of corporate communication for Goldman Sachs (GS)… bought a newly renovated Upper West Side townhouse for $7.85 million. The five-story brownstone at 131 West 95th Street near Columbus Avenue has five bedrooms… The developer bought the building for $2.5 million in February, 2006, and converted it from a seven-unit apartment building into a single-family home.” (The Real Deal, Aug. 29) 

Rent And Lease Complaints By Tenants Spike. “A growing number of tenants [are] accusing their landlords of charging too much for rent or not renewing leases in New York City. Department of Housing and Community Renewal: Complaints have climbed by 37% over the last 18 months…  Some real estate professionals saw the jump as evidence of a weak economy and better government outreach. Tenants and housing advocates tied the rise to an increase in the number of apartments owned by partnerships backed by private equity dollars that have bought an estimated 66,000 rent-regulated units in recent years.” (The Real Deal, Aug. 29) 

NYC Real Estate Braces for Lehman Layoffs. “Cutbacks at Lehman Bros… could reach as high as 20% [and] may contribute to the creeping increase in vacancy in New York City’s real estate market, which is heavily dependent on the financial sector… New reports show a rise in availability, a dip in asking rents and a dropoff in leasing velocity in Manhattan… A Studley Q2 report noted that rental rates declined by 2.2% to $69.29--the first decline since 2005, while availability jumped to 8.2%... Steve Coutts, Studley’s SVP of national research services:  During H1’08… sublet space spiked to 7.8 million-sf from 6.2M-sf in January, and closed at 8.3M-sf in June.” (Globe St., Aug. 29)

Unthinkable Happens: Manhattan Apartment Prices Fall. “City records indicate that apartments in prime Manhattan neighborhoods are selling for less than their purchase prices — a phenomenon that until now was virtually unheard of in the seemingly invincible New York City real estate market… Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Appraisals: "The market condition story of Manhattan has been clouded by the inclusion of a high concentration of new developments into the housing stock. While prices of new developments have soared, resale activity is showing modest declines… apartments all over the city, in different income brackets, are now posting declines.” (NY Sun, Aug. 29)

Seeking Alpha's Housing Tracker is a collection of housing-related excerpts from various sources, grouped by topic. Feel free to post any interesting links on the subject in the comments section below.

Get Seeking Alpha's housing market coverage by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.