Blog

New York City’s rental market is legendary: Because buying a home within city limits is so expensive, the city has long been a renter’s market. But now–thanks to new rent increases, which the board in charge of New York City’s rent-stabilized apartments passed yesterday–renters may find their cost of living is about to rise. New York’s high housing demand has pushed apartment costs up to unbelievable levels in recent years–which renters are happy to pay. With rents averaging $2,922, Forbes selected New York as the most expensive city in the country, noting that its 2.8 percent vacancy rate should keep…

Urban multifamily developers, start your engines: Demand is about to increase, and we have the astronomically high gas prices to thank. Americans are looking at homebuying in a new light, according to an Associated Press article reprinted in the San Jose Mercury News today. They don’t want to commute–partially because of the time it takes, but more often, because it’s just getting too expensive to drive far. Gas has risen by more than a dollar this year; this week, it hit a new high of $4.08 per gallon on Monday. As a result, Americans are driving less. Compared to April…

California has given us many wonderful things–Hollywood. Disneyland. A gold rush. And now, it may be about to give the housing market a huge gift: Hope. That comes courtesy of a quarterly report from the University of California, Los Angeles–released today–which says that while California home prices are still low, the number of condos and single-family homes being sold is rising in some areas. Why should we care about home sales in one state? Because it’s California, which is: The most populous U.S. state; One of the regions that saw the biggest price increases during the housing boom and, during…

How is the housing market doing? If you’re hoping to hear that things are improving, don’t ask builders. At least, that’s the picture painted by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder confidence index, released this week, which didn’t offer much more industry hope. And with good reason. Last year, the index averaged around 27; in June, it hit 18–the second time the index has reached that low point (the first was in December). In May, the index measured builder confidence at 19. Forecasts had placed the June index at about 19, according to Bloomberg–the surprise drop may not…

Forget real estate sales. There’s a bigger indication that the market may be turning around: Real estate investment. Home prices may be down, but the average real estate fund is 2 percent higher this year compared to 2007, according to the Chicago Tribune. That’s a decent amount, given New York-based financial analyst Lipper Inc. also says that the average U.S. diversified stock fund is down 8 percent this year. The rise in real estate-related stocks is good news–and offers hope as the housing slump rages on. Shares of self-storage and apartment management companies have risen as investors are again beginning…

The Chicago Tribune reported today that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has instructed more that two dozen field offices to cease financial crime investigations so agents can work on mortgage fraud probes. That’s a marked change from recent years, when agents have been instructed to focus on homeland security issues, according to the Trib. Twenty-six offices in areas where mortgage crime is prevalent were told to focus on mortgage issues last week by Kenneth Kaiser, chief of the criminal investigative division. The reason could be the number of suspicious activity reports filed in the 12 months ending Sept. 30–47,000, a…

On Wednesday, a Brooklyn construction site owner was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a worker who was crushed by a wall, Newsday said. William Lattarulo had hired a general contractor and an engineer to create plans to dig the foundation for the laundromat he was building–but he never used them, opting instead to cut about $90,000 off the budget by paying undocumented laborers, according to Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes. Hynes also said that Lattarulo didn’t heed warnings from workers that the foundation of a residential building next door required additional support, Newsday said….

As financing becomes harder to get, potential buyers may instead choose to rent–which, according to some reports, is killing the condo market in some large cities. An article in Tuesday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the trend declared the city’s condo market all but dead. Given that last month, multifamily housing was cited as the reason residential building rose in May, the rapid decline of condo sales and construction–in a city as large as Atlanta–is somewhat of a shock. But it turns out Atlanta’s entire multifamily market isn’t declining. Only its for-sale sector is. Renting Rises The problem? Financial backing for condos…

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors released its Pending Home Sales Index results for April–which, somewhat surprisingly, showed the amount of signed contracts rose 6.3 percent from March. The index increased from a reading of 83.0 in March to 88.2 in April, according to the NAR. The results were varied across the U.S. In the West, the index increased 8.3 percent in April and is actually 4 percent higher than a year ago. The index shot up 13 percent in the Midwest, although it is still 13.1 percent below the April 2007 level. In the South, the index rose…

Last Sunday, I had brunch at my friend’s somewhat-new apartment–she moved in a couple of months ago–and although the building may be older, her unit is cutting-edge green from back to front. I’ve known for years that Michelle preferred locally grown, organic produce; but this place takes that mentality to a whole new level. Although she doesn’t have a car, Michelle has made two trips to recycling centers to drop off bottles and cans since moving in. And, even more amazingly, there is a worm bin on the back porch that is used to turn fruit and vegetable waste into…