Manhattan Monthly Market Snapshot October 2011

Manhattan Condominium Market Snapshot October 2011

Manhattan Cooperative Market Snapshot October 2011

Manhattan Negotiability Factor by Price Point October 2011

My current perspective is that the market has picked up a fair amount.  I believe there are two factors. The first fact is record low interest rates. The same amount of monthly payment now buys almost TWICE the dollar amount of mortgage than it did just 5 years ago. (ie $1000 a month now gets you a loan of $220,000 where as in 2006 it would get you a loan of about $150,000). 

The second fact is the sudden and steep rise in Manhattan apartment rents.  Rental vacancy rates are now below 1% and the average rent in Manhattan just hit an all-time high of $3,316 up 13% from 2008. Its hard to find a rental apartment now and your monthly cost has risen significant.  All this makes buying more appealing and we are seeing a big pick up in studios and 1 bedrooms where buyers were initially looking to rent but have figured out that buying is much less expensive. 

As always, I will continue to follow closely Manhattan's sales activity and trends in residential real estate, and would welcome the opportunity to answer any questions about this report, the market in general or any questions about buying or selling real estate in Manhattan.