NY NY If You Can Buy There You Can Buy Anywhere

I often get calls from buyers looking to buy a short-sale. I ask why since short sales primarily benefit distressed sellers. The response is usually because they are looking for a bargain. I tell them a short sale is nothing short but a very long process. The response is usually: "I'm not in a hurry." Then I proceed to tell them why there are so few short sales in Manhattan and why Manhattan is a unique place in the real estate universe. I do a quick search, currently there are approximately 19 short sales in Manhattan out of approximately 12,000 properties for sale.

All Real Estate is Local!

There has been a lot of national press lately about the declining national housing market and a "double dip" nation wide. In many markets, more than half the inventory is in foreclosures which doesn't even include short sales. A short sale is when a seller is "short" they are "upside down" they owe more on their mortgage than the property is worth.  If the lender approves the sale price they may accept a short sale.

Fortunately New York State is among the lowest in the country for distressed sales and Manhattan is considerably lower than the state.

Below is a map of distressed sales from the National Association of Realtors. Only 16% of properties in New York state are distressed compared to California's 52%, Nevada's 69%, Arizona's 56% and Florida's 46%.

In these states and many other markets, a buyer has no choice, a buyer can't avoid short sales or bank owned properties (REO's) because that is the majority of the homes for sale. That is their inventory. 

While many of these places may have better weather than Manhattan they are not as good a place to live or own real estate particularly if you need to sell your home. 

As Frank Sinatra sang...

New York, New York, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere!

If you can buy real estate in New York you can buy it anywhere... but you may not be able to sell it anywhere.

New York, New York you can sell it there!

Manhattan home owners, sellers, buyers... BE HAPPY... You're in the Manhattan market!

Start spreadin' the news,


Manhattan market data:
Manhattan Monthly Snapshot April 2011
Manhattan Market Report: 1Q-2011