The new highest record for a single family townhouse sold on the Upper West Side was broken last month when 247 Central Park West changed hands for: $22.4 million.
The investor who bought it is now putting it on the rental market at a healthy $110,000 a month asking price. Cheers to that.
The $3 to $5 million segment is also having a good moment and activity is good, many brokers say.
If potential buyers are complaining that there’s a lack of inventory in the $1 to $2 million price range, it must be said that there are good opportunities in the $500k to $1 million segment that are not fully appreciated by this market.
The philosophy of the buyer who is going to purchase her first apartment has shifted to apartments that are slightly larger; the ones that can accommodate life changes like a newborn for example. People seem to think it is wiser to plan on owning the apartment for a longer time without needing to move especially given the lesson learned through the past years world economic troubles.

a glimpse at the commercial leasing market (mainly office space)
According to the source Alliance for Downtown New York, the level of activity in the downtown leasing market has increased by 80% between 2010 and 2011.
According to Cassidy Turely, the percentage of office space vacant in the whole Manhattan went down from 12% in December 2010 to 10.9% in December 2011; in the same period, always in Manhattan, the average asking rent went up from $47.6 to $51.4.

speaking of massive projects
The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has revealed plans to develop a huge convention center in the Queens area near the new Aqueduct Racetrack.
With 3000 hotel rooms this convention center would become the biggest in the Country.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the first phase of the project should be completed by the end of 2014 even if there’s no signed agreement with the main developer of the project: Genting Group.

fed
The governor of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, knows well that to sustain the economy in the long term the housing market has to be supported and regulated properly.
For this reason he has produced, together with his pals at the Fed, a 26 pages white paper on the topic and sent it to the Congress last month.
It is explained within it that there’s no single solution for the housing issue and options for the recovery are discussed. Among them: the fact that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may take some losses that would in the end benefit the general public or the fact that homes repossessed by the government may be redeployed as rental properties.

rentals
The rental market keeps staying strong.
Historically the winter months are a slower period during which prices may go down a little. This is not really happening this time around.
The vacancy rate is at its all time low, around 1%.
Generally the incentives offered by landlords during winter equal to a month free rent. This year instead, in several cases only a half month free is offered.

This is it for today, my dear friends.
I am always available to answer your questions and provide you with more information on New York City real estate.

Warmest Regards,
Riccardo Ravasini