Archives
March 2008
Mar. 31, 2008 - ... 5 golden rings ... 4 price drops ...
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Duane, Leonard, West 23, Hubert, Price Drop
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Mar. 31, 2008 - if at first ... 543 Broadway back with fewer dollars
upgraded with fewer dollars + feet
The 4th floor at 543 Broadway has a long sales history and -- as of today -- a new firm and price. Shawn Felker and Denise Joseph of PruDE are now marketing this "classic Soho loft!!" of "2,200+ sq ft" for $1.995mm. I hit it in its last round of marketing, on October 11 (bring architect + ton o’ money to 543 Bway (sound familiar?)), when they were asking $2.45mm and $1,500/mo. In addition to the price change, maintenance is now up to $1,550/mo and there has been some significant shrinkage: what is now "2,200+ sq ft" used to be billed as "2,600 sq ft".
They talk about "recent upgrades [that] make it in move in condition", but it is hard to see what those upgrades could be. (New shiny finish on the floor??) When i hit it in October, I said
this seems to have been used as an artist's live/work studio with one bathroom and only the 4 windows east in a space that might be 25 x 105 feet. (The floor plan is a trove of contradiction: the dimensions are given as 20'2" x 105' 8" but 2,430 sq ft, and notes there are 11 foot ceilings rather than the numbers claimed in the listing text.)
(Note that PruDE does not have a floor plan for this unit on the web, but maybe that will come in a day or two.) The PruDE pix are a little confusing, as the first 2 are the same living room (I am pretty sure) but taken at slightly different perspectives and with slightly different furniture / bookcase arrays (note how the art placement on the walls is the same). Based on the former floor plan, the 4 windows in the first 2 PruDE pix are the only windows in the place. And there is still only 1 bathroom. "However this Loft could easily be redesigned to create a magnificent entertaining space for that hip buyer wanting to live in the center of it all!!" So they say.
critical feedback from The Market?
My guess is that the sellers realized The Market did not like the old price, The Market felt the space was smaller than previously advertised, and The Market may have suggested some (minor?) upgrades were needed. Whatever was done as upgrades did not take very long, as it was Temporarily Off the Market for only 2 weeks before coming back today with a new firm.
2d floor is gone
I mentioned in October that the 2d floor (in much better condition than the 4th floor) was then in contract off and asking price of $1.895mm after starting in April 2007 at $2.275mm. That has since closed at that new asking price -- $1.895mm. The nicer-but-lower-and-cheaper 2d floor could not have helped sell the 4 th floor, so maybe they will do better at a new price and without that nearby competition. (Comps are comps, however.)
© Sandy Mattingly 2008
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View more entries tagged with: Broadway, Artist, Classic, Square Feet, Renovation, Longandnarrow, Price Drop
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Mar. 30, 2008 - new Manhattan loft listings + closed sales + inventory in last 7 days
This is my twenty-fourth report on the number, price distribution and neighborhood distribution for Manhattan lofts reported as new to the market or as closed sales in the last 7 days, and the first to include "inventory".
The stats as of Sunday night ...
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there were 42 lofts reported as new to the market in the last 7 days and only 7 as sold
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35 of the 42 new ones are offered below $3mm and 4 are over $6.999mm, while 5 of the 7 closed sales were under $3mm
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only 4 of the 42 new loft listings are in new development, and only 1 of the 7 closed sales was in new development
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[new data point; see below] there are 500 lofts reported as available for sale
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By price
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New = 42
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Sold = 7
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$500k to $999k
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6
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1
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$1mm to $1.99mm
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15
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2
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$2mm to $2.99mm
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14
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2
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$3mm to $3.99mm
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1
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1
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$4mm to $4.99mm
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1
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$5mm+
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5
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1
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By neighborhood
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New = 42
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Sold = 7
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Battery Park City
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Chelsea
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5
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Clinton
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1
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East Village
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1
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Financial District
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3
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1
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Flatiron
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6
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2
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Gramercy
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2
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Greenwich Village
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5
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Kips Bay
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2
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Little Italy
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Lower East Side
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Murray Hill
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1
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Midtown West
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SoHo
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7
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Tribeca
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7
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1
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Turtle Bay
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1
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Upper East Side
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1
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Upper West Side
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1
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West Village
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1
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1
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New loft listings in new developments
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45 John Street
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3
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15 East 26 Street (15 Madison Sq No)
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1
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Sold lofts in new developments
For information about how I get this stuff and why I slice it as I do, see methodology for New + Sold in The Last Seven Days.
The new data point this week is Loft Inventory. There are at least as many problems with this datum as with any of the numbers I track (see methodology post), but it may prove to be useful for trend-spotting. There are definitional problems (it is based on "lofts" described as such by agents when they enter listings in the inter-firm data system, but it is not clear if this results in too many lofts [with 'loft-like' apartments included] or too few lofts [with agents not bothering to check the right box]) and reporting problems (it is based on agents' reporting of what is "available" [no doubt in my mind that some agents fail to update their listing status, so this is probably over-stated]). This week's total of 500, while imperfect, should be imperfect in the same way over time, so may prove to be a useful bit of comparative information.
© Sandy Mattingly 2008
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View more entries tagged with: New Listings, Sales, Closed, Inventory, Bond, John, Loft 25, West 25, East 26, Madison Square
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Mar. 30, 2008 - mea culpa
MLG withdrawal
I hope I am not the only one who has been suffering from Manhattan Loft Guy withdrawal this week....
I am just back from a family trip to Florida (wife's Spring Break; daughter's new job and apartment; father-in-law's brother), which became even more stressful by a lack of consistent Internet access. (Who knew that you could find a hotel that did not offer web access??)
I post-dated last Wednesday's posts, figuring that by Thursday I would be able to post at least once a day. Wrong! Had I known I would have alerted readers to an absence of a few days.
I should be back at some point tonight with a 7 day update, then back for real tomorrow.
Mea maxima culpa.
© Sandy Mattingly 2008
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Mar. 26, 2008 - it can be flipping hard / back story on NY Post Just Sold at 260 Park Avenue South
you say Ulysses, I say Odysseus
The odyssey of #7B at 260 Park Avenue South is given public notice of a successful conclusion in this weekend's Just Sold section of the NY Post's Real Estate Section. As noted, it took 374 days for this new Manhattan loft to close at $3.45mm off the (most recent) asking price of $3.55mm. The Post distills the loft this way:
Prewar two-bedroom, 2½-bath duplex condo, 2,525 square feet, with living/dining room with 11-foot ceilings, kitchen with marble countertops, Sub-Zero refrigerator, Viking stove and Bosch dishwasher, home office, marble bath with double sinks and soaking tub, washer/dryer, through-the-wall AC and southern exposure; building features doorman, concierge, gym, roof deck and courtyard. Common charges $2,026, taxes $2,630.
Here's what really happened.
the whole truth and nothing but
These January sellers were buyers when the building sold its first units in February 2006. They paid $2.675mm. Can't tell if they did any work of consequence in the unit (I don't see any building permits) before putting it on the market ten months later, starting that odyssey at $3.85mm.
They must have been on a quarterly tickler, as they dropped to $3.7mm in 3 months, $3.65mm after another 3 months, and $3.55mm after another 3 months before signing a contract in November and closing in January.
very rough numbers
It may be that the February-2006-buyers-turned-January-2007-sellers never moved in, as the pictures show an empty unit. Rough math goes something like this: bought for $2.675mm in February 2006, probably paying the developer's transfer taxes at about $48k and the mansion tax of about $27k -- at least $2.75mm all in. The gross sales price of $3.45mm generates gross profit of $700k, reduced by those pesky transfer taxes again (about $62k) and commission of from $172k to $207k, reducing the net to under $450k. If, in fact, they never moved in, they paid $4,626/mo for 24 months ($111k) without enjoying the health club, concierge and other high-end services. They will owe capital gains tax (federal at 15%) on the net, bringing them to something less than $290k, net, without considering what it cost to carry a mortgage on whatever loan they carried fromFebruary 2006 to January 2008. Net net, they put up at least $267,500 in cash to close, and may have carried a $2MM+ mortgage at from $13k to $16k per month for 24 months (or paid more cash and lost the investment benefit of that cash), for around another $350k or so -- a very big OUCH if they did not live there.
better if they lived there, for sure
Net net net, if they did not live there in those 2 years, they are under water, despite buying low ($2.675mm) and selling high ($3.45mm); if they got to live in and enjoy the space for those 2 years, they would havetaken out more than double their (minimal) down payment of $267,500.
duking it out at Corcoran?
Internal politics, maybe? Credit for the sale in the Post goes to Lauren Muss of Corcoran, who probably had the buyer, since the listing agents were Corcoran's Deborah Grubman, Carol Cohen and Shari Scharfer-Rollins.
© Sandy Mattingly 2008
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View more entries tagged with: Park Avenue South, New Development, 2006, Flip, Ny Post
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Mar. 26, 2008 - having it all gets cheaper at 48 East 13 Street
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: East 13, East 12, Whole Foods, Union Square, University, Renovation, Space, Light, Drop
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Mar. 25, 2008 - 39 East 12 Street has 2 new, with terrace + without, priced accrodingly
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: East 12, University Mews, Views, Terrace, Renovation, Comps, Empire State, Woolworth, Con Ed
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Mar. 25, 2008 - creeping Manhattan inventory a feint or more creepy?
oracle of data
Over at Matrix, Jonathan Miller links to a chart he did for Crain’s New York Business showing that the number of coops and condos available for sale in Manhattan has gone up 15% from the end of December to the end of February, though still at relative historically low levels. As you can see from this chart he did for Curbed, which I hit in seasonality of Manhattan inventory, not so much, the rise since December 2007 brings inventory back to the level it of January 2007.
impossible to know but fun to speculate?
Of course the question for these days of General Economic Anxiety is whether the 2 month rise in inventory to start 2008 will continue an upward trajectory and take more starch out of the real estate market, or whether the monthly inventory will repeat that lovely color (teal?) for 2007 in the Curbed chart by dropping in late Spring.
I probably should look again at the data corruption issues to providing a number for Manhattan loft inventory in my weekly reviews...
© Sandy Mattingly 2008
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View more entries tagged with: Matrix, Jonathan Miller, Curbed, Inventory, Seasonality
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Mar. 24, 2008 - price drop trumps patience at 525 Broome, 9 months to contract
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Broome, Gallery, Potential, Price Drop, Contract, Fireplace, Columns
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Mar. 24, 2008 - no cigar, as 12 West 18 Street is back on market
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: West 18, Back On Market, Space, Light
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Mar. 22, 2008 - 138 Duane is classic but new, with steps + ladders (w Qs for architects)
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Duane, Renovation, Maintenance, Walkup, Stairs, Mezzanine, Architect
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Mar. 21, 2008 - the Steiner Building premium (or not) / 257 West 17 Street has a new one
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Steiner, West 17, Comps, Renovation, New, Contract
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Mar. 20, 2008 - it worked! 152 Franklin contract 2 weeks after dropping
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Franklin, Gourmand, Kitchen, Space, Price Drop, Contract
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Mar. 20, 2008 - new at 71 Warren with rather low monthlies
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Warren, West Broadway, Brick, Square Feet
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Mar. 19, 2008 - drip drip / price drops at 124 Hudson + 684 Broadway to and from $3.05mm
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Hudson, Broadway, Price Drops
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Mar. 18, 2008 - inquiring minds want to know / 292 Lafayette is new
I have removed the content of this blog post, as it comments about the current listing of another agent. For information about why, check out end of an era for Manhattan Loft Guy / a new day dawns? from April 9.
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View more entries tagged with: Lafayette, Puck, Crosby, Jersey, Baclony, Fire Escape, Renovation, Tin Ceilings, Columns
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on matters of interest to Manhattan coop or condo loft apartment dwellers, buyers, sellers, and others, especially about New York City real estate
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