Behind the sagging wire fence, all that's left of 55 Eckford Street in Greenpoint is a skeleton, its steel ribs turned rusty from months of rain. A tangle of weeds has shot up among the bottles and soggy cardboard covering the ground, and blue construction tarp flaps in the autumn wind. The place smells faintly of urine.

Is this the future of McCarren Park's shiny new condo expansion?

Not yet. But if New York's real estate boom died on Oct. 1, as The New York Times declared, then these deserted developments are its ghosts, projects left over from a more hopeful time.  read more »

This is the first in a three-part series today covering the Manhattan housing market since autumn 2007.

Manhattan condo sales dropped 22.6 percent annually in the third quarter of 2008, according to a new report from appraisal firm Miller Samuel and brokerage giant Prudential Douglas Elliman. At the same time, the 12 months from September 2007 to now, the median sales price, the average sales price and the average sales price per square foot for a Manhattan condo increased.

With lower downpayments and no co-op board process, condos are the gateway buy for many New York homeowners; and therefore a solid barometer of where the borough's housing market has been and where it may be going in tougher economic times.  read more »

"A 'slight dip'?? You have GOT to be kidding! The last time the Manhattan real estate bubble deflated (1989-93), prices fell by about 30% on average. The main difference now is that there is a LOT more new construction in the pipeline than there was then. Also, condos account for a much larger share of the market now than then--and it's MUCH easier to get a questionable loan for a condo than for a co-op. Be careful what you wish for. Keep in mind that prices have roughly doubled in the past 5 years, so even with a 40% drop, they'd still be up about 20% from there. And once prices start falling it will be the foreign buyers (speculators) that rush for the exits FIRST. Just look what happened in Florida." ["Panic Is Fun! First Bear Goes, Then Lehman, Then Condo Market?"]

It's been over three years since the city passed a contextual rezoning of Bay Ridge to limit "out-of-character development" in the low-rise neighborhood, but tensions between nostalgic residents and developers who continue to squeeze three- and four-story apartment buildings into plots once occupied by single-family homes show no signs of abating.

The "Green Church" looks like it is slated for demolition despite the last ditch-effort of local activists; a seven-story apartment building will soon rise from the site of the Bay Ridge Funeral Parlor; and the board of the Bay Ridge Jewish Center is shopping for a buyer.

To Bay Ridge lifers like Steven Diahy, these developments and the squat, tightly packed generic brick buildings scattered among the rowhouses off Third and Fourth avenues signal the neighborhood's transition from a sleepy, suburban community into a mini-Manhattan, and, equally important, make finding a parking spot nearly impossible.  read more »

The number of offering plans approved by the state for fresh New York City condos and co-ops declined 4.5 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to The New York Sun this morning. The state attorney general's office, which must approve offering plans before sales can start, accepted 663 plans containing 25,271 units last year.

It's the first annual drop since 1999. But it may not be as momentous as it first seems.

Residential building permits in the city had dropped annually 46 percent in the first quarter of 2008, according to Census data. So a much bigger decline than 4.5 percent in offering plans accepted would have been expected; it didn't happen.  read more »

We’ve been wondering what kind of building would rise from the vacant lot on North 3rd Street between Bedford and Berry since construction began four months ago.

Could it be another luxe-residential complex for priced-out Manhattanites in the heart of Williamsburg hipsterdom?

Apparently, yes.

Though the project has not yet been christened with an appropriately yuppie-kitsch name--like say “Aqua” or “The Edge”--Joe Nicholas, who brokered the $22 million sale through Kalmon Dolgin Realty, confirmed that developer Quadriad Realty LLC is building an 85-unit condo on the 42,000-square-foot lot, boasting the prime Williamsburg addresses of 201 Berry Street and 248 Bedford Avenue.  read more »

Brownstoner breaks down the number of Brooklyn condo and co-op offering plans filed with the state Attorney General over the last few years (1,393 plans for 28,499 new units since 2004) and quizzes developers on what's to come.

Not much, apparently:  read more »

The Real Deal reports that more New York condo owners are falling behind on paying their buildings' common charges:

Bruce Cholst, a partner at Rosen & Livingston who specializes in co-op and condo law, said he has seen an increase in the volume and frequency of warning letters sent to condo owners for fee delinquency over the past six months. He said many of those owners heed the warnings, but end up back in arrears a couple months later.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/stat-day-more-condo-owners-fall-behind-common-charges#comments Real Estate common charges Condos Housing market Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:20:35 -0400 Tom Acitelli 67364 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/condos-ascendant-what-price-victory

Condo sales accounted for 56 percent of the housing deals closed in Manhattan in the first quarter of 2008. That's a striking percentage given recent history and the borough's housing stock.

Co-ops usually outnumber condo sales, though the two types of housing have gained a bit of sales parity in recent years. In the fourth quarter of 2007, for instance, condos accounted for 49 percent of the apartment deals and co-ops 51 percent, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. In the quarter before that, condos accounted for 48 percent. In 2006, condos accounted for over 49 percent of all deals.

Such percentages come despite condos representing maybe 25 percent of the for-sale housing stock in Manhattan. The rest are co-ops (or townhouses).

Yet, now, condos have pulled well ahead of co-ops. Why? Any number of reasons but two probably matter more than most: new-condo development and co-op boards.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/condos-ascendant-what-price-victory#comments Real Estate Co-ops Condos miller samuel Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:44:09 -0400 Tom Acitelli 67312 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/15-cpw-watch-1

An unknown buyer has paid $11.77 million for Unit 9B at 15 Central Park West, according to city records. The same buyer purchased a $720,000 "suite"--the euphemism for staff accomodations at the building--on Feb. 22. Though we couldn't confirm the identity of the buyer, one of the names listed on the deed was Queens College graduate Betty Lau, the CEO of technology firm Applied Info. Partners.

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/15-cpw-watch-1#comments Real Estate 15 Central Park West Condos Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:16:05 -0400 Lysandra Ohrstrom 66173 at http://www.observer.com