Over the past quarter-century, the Miami skyline has grown at a cornfield pace, fueled largely, realtors say, by buyers from South America. This trend is more natural here than in cities like Vancouver, where mainland Chinese are big condo buyers, or Paris, where Americans, among others, trade chic pied-à-terres. After all, most Miami residents speak Spanish at home, and the metro area has the highest share of immigrant business ownership in the country, at 45 percent. This is why the …
by Riccardo Ravasini 
As of late June 2014 the five priciest listings in Brooklyn ranged from a $14 million Park Slope townhouse to the $32 million One Brooklyn Bridge Park condominium penthouse. Interestingly, the most expensive sales that actually closed in the last 12 months were at a far lower level, ranging from a $5.8 million Brooklyn Heights townhouse to an $8.7 million townhouse at 12 College Place in the same neighborhood. Therefore the current highest $ listings seem to be at wishful …
by Riccardo Ravasini Bidding wars. All-cash offers. Foreign buyers. Off-market sales. The telltale signs of New York City’s housing crunch have dominated headlines in recent years, as pent-up demand from the financial crisis gave way to a seller’s market — one in which prices have soared.
But in Brooklyn, the steep inventory decline of the past four years is easing slightly, as new developments hit the market and some homeowners cash out.
There were 4,202 properties for sale in Brooklyn during the month …
by Riccardo Ravasini 1973: Soho designated city historic district
Soho, the growing artist neighborhood that was once a thriving manufacturing district, was designated as a historic district by the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission 41 years ago this month.
The Soho-Cast Iron Historic District was bounded by West Broadway, Houston, Canal and Crosby streets, and included 26 city blocks given character by 19-century loft buildings with cast-iron facades. The law made it more difficult to tear down or alter the approximately 500 buildings within …
by Riccardo Ravasini According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2014 Profile of International Home Buying Activity Report, favorable exchange rates, affordable home prices and rising affluence abroad continue to drive foreign buyers to the U.S. to purchase properties and make real estate investments.
For the period April 2013 through March 2014, total international sales have been estimated at a record-setting $92.2 billion, an increase from the previous period’s level of $68.2 billion. Four states accounted for 55% of the total reported purchases …
by Riccardo Ravasini Things are looking good for the owners of New York’s commercial skyscrapers.
An improving economy and increasing demand from foreign investors have brought Manhattan’s office-building values back to where they were before the crash.
According to Green Street Advisors, the index of midtown values was at 99.4 in June, up from 87.2 a year earlier. The index reached its peek in 2007 — hitting 100. Its lowest point? In April 2009, when the index sunk to 45.5.
While this boom …
by Riccardo Ravasini