Friday, February 27, 2015

2018 Skyline Preview: Super Skyscrapers to Change Manhattan Skyline

City Realty made the rendering above, providing us an idea of what the city will look like in 2018 based on projections for buildings currently being planned or already in construction. The photo illustrates a NYC skyline 2,500 feet above Central Park. This image focuses on Billionaire's Row, the set of seven sky-high luxury apartment buildings such as One Vanderbilt, 53 W 53rd, 432 Park Avenue, 225 W 57th, and 111 W 57th Street. You click through to the full article to see a few more renderings offering some different perspectives of the area, but the story is the same; Manhattan skyline is changing more dramatically than in decades. Major residential buildings are headed ever more skyward, meaning eventually we'll all be  all living in the clouds. Full Article

Monday, February 23, 2015

Falling Oil=Falling Rates: How Oil Prices Affect Your Mortgage

We all know falling oil means more discretionary spending, with obvious repercussions, but did you ever think that falling oil would mean falling mortgage rates? Most real estate economists have been forecasting mortgage rates will rise in 2015, but the recent steep drop in oil prices could change all that. According to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, an examination of break-even inflation rates suggests sharply lower oil prices are a key driver of the 90 basis points rally in 10-year Treasurys and the 60 basis points drop in mortgage rates in 2014. "The possibility of further declines in oil prices increases the chances that mortgage rates drop to the 3.25%-3.5% range that we believe is necessary to get housing back to affordable levels for many," says Chris Flannigan, ABS and MBS strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Full Article

Friday, February 20, 2015

The Fashionable Homes of Fashion's Finest!


With Fashion Week upon New York City once again, we trolled the internet for an inside peak at the personal spaces of some of Fashion's biggest names and found an exceptional gallery of 12 of the most stunning rooms, in some of the most stunning homes in all of fashion. All, like the parlor of President of Marc Jacobs, Robert Duffy's Manhattan brownstone, are to be envied for sure. These insider views are a gift from reporteres at both Elle Decor and Architectural Digest as compiled by Racked in honor of Fashion Week. It includes the living rooms of Cynthia Rowley and Milly designer Michelle Smith, the dining rooms of Christian Louboutin and Trina Turk, the study of Anna Sui, the library of Mark Badgley and James Mischka, Ralph Lauren's kitchen and Nannette Lapore's to die for closet to name a few! Have fun peeping, and for more follow the links to the original full house tours on both Elle Decor and Architectural Digest! Designer Homes

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Luxury Sales Pushing Prices in both Manhattan and Brooklyn

Winter is traditionally the slowest time for Residential Real Estate in Manhattan and this January was no different. Contracts were down 12% compared to last January, mainly die to a lack of affordable inventory, as there are 12% fewer listings under $1MM than last January. On a positive note, more high end inventory means both Co-ops and Condos saw significant price increases year over year, 13% and 23% respectively, although price per square foot was down in Co-ops due to a decline in sales of three+ bedroom units, which are often priced higher per square foot than smaller units.

2015 is off to a strong start in Brooklyn, where contracts were up 32% over last January and 68% of all sales were at or above asking price. In addition, the average sales price was up 21% from January of last year, and price per square foot was up as well. Just like, Manhattan, it is is important to note that numbers were skewed by several high end sales this month, most notably at the new luxury development, The Boreum, on Atlantic Avenue.