Manhattan Real Estate

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) – Long Island house prices fell the most in at least four years in the third quarter as the national housing slump extended its grip on New York City’s suburbs.

The median price of a one- to three-family house dropped 6.9 percent to $427,388 from a year ago, New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said today in a report. The median for all properties, including condominiums, dropped 6.2 percent to $415,000. The report excludes the Hamptons resort towns.

The threat of a recession and tight credit contributed to the decline in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Miller Samuel President Jonathan Miller said in an interview. Citigroup Inc. forecasts that the U.S. economy will contract every quarter next year, according to an Oct. 21 note to clients, and 75 percent of loan officers surveyed by the Federal Reserve in July said they had tightened home lending.

“The declines, within reason, are relatively equivalent across all markets of Long Island,” Miller said. “That essentially says that it’s external influence.”

In addition to the price drop, the number of sales for all types of residential property on Long Island declined 16 percent to 5,292.

Sales of previously owned homes probably will drop to 5.01 million in the U.S. this year, 29 percent less than 2005’s all- time high of 7.08 million, the National Association of Realtors said in a Sept. 9 forecast.

Manhattan Holds Up

Nationally, sales of previously owned homes fell more than forecast in August. Transactions dropped 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.91 million units from 5.02 million the prior month, the National Association of Realtors said Sept. 24. The median price declined 9.5 percent from August 2007.

While the suburbs are showing price declines, Manhattan has yet to see a drop in values. The median price of a condominium or co-op in Manhattan climbed 7.4 percent to $928,263 in the third quarter, according to Miller Samuel data released Oct. 3. Transactions fell 24 percent to 2,654.

Miller Samuel said today the median price of homes sold in the New York City borough of Queens dropped 11.4 percent to $400,000, while the number of sales fell 35 percent to 3,240.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sharon L. Lynch in New York at sllynch@bloomberg.net

Monday on “Your World w/Neil Cavuto” (Fox News, Oct 6, 2008) Donald Trump announced that he is not slowing down his real estate investing activity during our slumping economy. On the contrary, Trump made it clear there are good real estate opportunities to be had at “fire sale” prices that real estate investors should capture.

So how are you reacting to this financial chaos? Are you investing, or has this uncertain financial market got you frozen in your tracks? If you are frozen, you might be missing one of the best opportunities to invest in real estate that we’ve had in a long time. Consider this:

1. There are numerous “fire sale” deals available for real estate property throughout the United States
2. Interest rates are still generally favorable
3. Our economy will survive, so it’s just a matter of time before your investment in real estate is worth more than you pay for it by virtue of a greater demand for it

This is not the time to bury your money under a mattress. Yes, it’s comforting to be able to put your hands on it quickly, and perhaps like Donald Duck’s eccentric Uncle Scrooge, be able to roll around in it, but it will cost you big time. Inflation alone will devalue your money; your money won’t be worth as much next year as this year.

Here’s a better suggestion.

First, develop an investing plan. Then locate a real estate professional in your area that understands income-producing property and has a track record for investment property sales and build a relationship. Let him or her know what your investment objectives are and have them start looking for profitable investment opportunities.

If you know enough about the nuances of real estate investing and have a good understanding of your local real estate market, great. Then start kicking the bushes yourself.

The point is not to neglect doing something. This slumping financial market is unnerving, certainly, but our economy will survive and bounce back and what you invest into today will make you money tomorrow. If you have the financial means to invest in real estate without jeopardizing your welfare, then this is not the time to run for cover and hide. Instead, follow in the tracks of the Donald, during this slumping economy, look for, pursue, and seize investment opportunities with abandon.

“The New York City Waterfalls” is a public art project of four man-made waterfalls rising from New York Harbor, some as high as the Statue of Liberty. Organized by the nonprofit Public Art Fund and the city of New York, it is being billed as the city’s biggest such project since “The Gates,” the $20 million effort by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude in 2005.

The artist Olafur Eliasson’s much-publicized initiative cost $15 million. It will appear from June 26 to Oct. 13 and run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

City officials and the Public Art Fund say that no city money is being used to pay for the waterfalls, with all of the funds coming from foundations, corporations and private supporters.

Mr. Elliasson’s waterfall installation was tested for the first time in pre-dawn light on Tuesday, two days before the official launch of the exhibit.

The locations for the waterfalls include Pier 35, just north of the Manhattan Bridge; one in Brooklyn at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge; another between Piers 4 and 5 near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and a fourth on the north shore of Governors Island.

This is Mr. Eliasson’s first public art project in New York.

The Waterfalls are erected on the shoreline and have been designed to protect water quality and aquatic life.

Friday October 10th 
Christopher Columbus Block Party
(on Murray St. from Broadway – Church Street)

Saturday October 11th
8th Avenue Autumn Festival
(on 8th Avenue from 42nd – 57th Street)

Sunday October 12th
Avenue of the Americas Family Expo
(on 6th Avenue from 42nd – 56th Street)

Monday October 13th
Columbus Day Festival
(On Broadway from Cedar St. – Battery Pl.)

Saturday October 4th
Union Square Autumn Fair
(on Park Avenue South from 17th – 23rd Street)

Sunday October 5th
N.Y.C. Oktoberfest
(on Lexington Avenue from 42nd – 57th Street)