Is The Real Estate Bust Coming To An End?

The number of real estate sales in Manhattan is up over the past three months, offering a sign of hope to homeowners who have watched the number of deals drop and the median sale price of plummet by 21 percent since 2008. The Times reports that the uptick in sales chipped away at the inventory of unsold apartments. Prices stayed about the same or dropped slightly — though two major brokerages actually reported increases in the average and median sales prices, according to Curbed. Some insiders fear the market has hit a plateau before another plunge, but others think things are starting to turn around. "Considering where we came from, the results this quarter were much better than we could've imagined a year ago at this time," said Jonathan Miller, who created the study. "There are a lot of challenges ahead for housing, but I think the worst is behind us."

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By Ben Muessig in News on January 5, 2010 1:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Darrell

Haha, no, not in NYC anyway. FHA loans + Foreclosed properties that haven't been dealt with (especially uncompleted projects) + New properties scheduled to land on the market place in distressed areas like Williamsburg = We go down. Sorry guys, NYC's not going to be in a recovery for at least a year, and for the nation at large, if the FHA loans forclose like the subprimes did (which is expected at this point), then the growth you've seen was just a false bloom. The market won't stabilize until foreclosed properties are actually tackled as an issue rather than having the government just throwing money at the property owners (banks) and pretending that they don't exist.

GalBklyn

I'm not *buying*

eyekantspel

dead cat bounce.

hotstepper

any suggestions for latest and greatest squatter nabes?

OttoBloggo

Hmmmm, shall I stay in my luxury rental with the rent dropping every time I re-up, or shall I pay 5X as much to buy a place? Hmmmm. Tough choice.

NannyState

If they're talking just Manhattan, the numbers are small, possibly statistically insignificant. So why bother except to pump up expectations that won't be realized until employment rises? Wall Street bonus money can't cover the crater. I call bullshit.

WesleySnipesAlot

Bitches don't know 'bout the cyclical nature of real estate and economics. Up, down, up, down, rinse, repeat, ad nauseum. What do you think the over/under is before the next bubble grows, pops, and people with no sense of history are once again stunned in disbelief?