Weekly Roundup: Rising condo taxes, foreclosure woes, price declines, ‘typical’ buyer, much more

Next week, I’ll have just one or two posts and hope that my readers have a very happy Thanksgiving.

Library is great resource for the history of your building

For $1,000 a month, an UWS apartment — uh, room or closet — can be yours!

Yesterday’s buyers in tax-abated buildings come to grips with tomorrow’s escalating costs

More folks moved to the city last year than left it for the first time in decades

A Times columnist tries out Airbnb in the city

City’s wealthy suburbs among nation’s hardest hit by foreclosures

Condos in unbuilt UES development boom as in times gone by

Pre-foreclosure filings in October down 20% from September and 39% from one year earlier

Brooklyn is friendliest borough to (wo)man’s best friend

What is the definition of ‘market value’

Nemo and Mickey join Department of Housing Preservation and Development

WestSideRag posts funny, cutting rant about broker babble

Unemployment rate ticks up, concerning at least one economist

He sees rich people for this Sun Valley listing

Fashion designer

The Big Apple: Citywide stats improve. . . a bit

VOWs prove useful to buyers searching for new homes

Brokerage firms are getting into the digital game themselves, creating a “virtual office Web site” or VOW.

These are sites operated by brokers that enable clients to search for most of the available properties in a particular market, not just the firm’s exclusive listings, according to the New York Times.

While brokers have mixed feelings about whether these sites are worth the investment, the emergence of the VOW is yet another sign that once tightly guarded listing information has finally been set free in New York.

Dollar value of citywide sales climbs from Q1 to Q2 as seasons change, but sales activity slips 4 percent below one year earlier

The total dollar value of New York City’s residential sales transactions jumped 13 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to

The Big Apple: CPW sale turns tidy profit. More!

She who hesitates hardly is lost

Mildred Furiya bought her townhouse in Brooklyn for $16,000 in 1966 with a cash gift from her father. Now she plans to list the dwelling for approximately $1.895 million.

A sale at that price would represent an 11,744 percent increase over 45 years — or an annual return of about 11 percent, says the New York Times.

Numbers cruncher says he’s bullish on Manhattan

Manhattan just doesn’t behave like the rest of the country

2-BR Mitchell-Lama co-ops on UWS to be sold

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is once again advertising a lottery for New York State residents to be placed on a waiting list for a two-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

The co-op’s purchase price is only $26,376 with carrying charges of $357 to $688, depending on the number of dependents.

The Big Apple: Prices, sales slip in 1st quarter

Weakness emerges in Manhattan market during first quarter

Reports issued today showed price declines as much as 23 percent from the same time last year, according to the New York Times.

One of the reports, prepared by the Miller Samuel appraisal firm, had the median sale price down by 9.9 percent to $782,071. According to that document, a new index of sales that have yet to close recorded a 7.1 percent increase over the same time last year, suggesting an upswing in the current quarter.

Explanations for the dip included the artificial bump caused last year by the federal homebuyer tax credit and a boost this year in the sales of co-ops, which are generally less expensive than condos, as the result of a crimp in condo inventory.

As Noah Rosenblatt, a blogger, broker and data provider, points out on UrbanDigs.com, the figures on which the reports are based are flawed because of the way they are gathered.

Says he: “. . . you MUST understand that you are seeing an incomplete report with a ton of Q1 sales not yet publicly released! Especially March, whose sales will continue roll in over the course of the next 4-8 weeks. . .”

Price of studios suggests it’s a good time to buy one

The studio market has gone soft again–just as it did in the last recession, says the New York Times.

Prices have dipped to 2005 levels, making it possible to find studios in Manhattan in the $200,000s–lots of them. And they don’t all face a brick wall or involve a lengthy hike to the subway.

The average price for studios dropped to $404,326 in 2010 from a high of $500,479 in 2008.

A recent search of Manhattan listings on the Times real estate site and on Streeteasy.com found close to 200 studios available for $300,000 or less. An article about studios in The Times in 2009, before the market had bottomed out, found only a handful of studios in that price range.

The Times provides

Can you imagine a 2-BR Brooklyn co-op for $19,000?

The city has just announced the lottery to be placed on waiting lists for one-and two-bedroom Mitchell-Lama co-ops in the FortGreene/Clinton Hill part of Brooklyn.

One-bedroom units run $13,599-$16,757 and two-bedroom apartments, $18,985.  Monthly carrying charges are no more than $620 for the small units and $722 for the bigger ones.

As is the practice of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, however, there is no clue either in the ad or on the department’s Web site just which buildings will be available.  And unfortunately, I do not know the neighborhood well enough to guess.

If you qualify for Mitchell-Lama income limits and

Here’s your chance to buy a cheap 2-BR UWS co-op

A Mitchell-Lama building somewhere in Manhattan.

“Chance” is the operative word in the headline.

That’s because the city’s has announced the establishment of a new lottery for the purchase of Mitchell-Lama co-ops in Manhattan for a virtual song.

According to an ad in the Times, “waiting lists are being opened” for Upper West Side apartments ranging in size from studio to two-bedroom.  As is the practice of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, however, there is no clue either in the ad or on the department’s Web site just which buildings will be available.

If you

The Big Apple: Apartments are not moving swiftly

ALTHOUGH COMPLAINTS ARE UP 7 PERCENT, THEY’RE NOT MAKING A DENT IN BEDBUG INFESTATIONS

Statistics from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development show that residential bedbug complaints in New York City climbed 7 percent during 2010, the Wall Street Journal is quoted as reporting in the Real Deal.

In 2010, there were 4,846 violations and 13,472 complaints, up from 4,811 and 12,594 in 2009. According to Louis Sorkin, an entomologist with the American Museum of Natural History, there are many more infestations than complaints.

“Tons of people that have infestations don’t say anything and, if they are in apartments, the people next door are the ones with a complaint finally,” he told the Journal. “They may not file a complaint, but they may go through the proper channels and tell the landlord or co-op board or condo owner.”

EXPERIENCE IS HARSH TEACHER FOR BUYERS IN A NEW DEVELOPMENT

“I would advise other people shopping for new condos to watch out for really low prices,”

City selling 3BR Brooklyn Heights co-ops up to $61,000

You'll probably have better luck than the holder of this ticket, which lost. (Flickr photo by Jeffrey Beall)

If you qualify for Mitchell-Lama income limits and win the waiting list lottery, you and your immediate family of five persons could live in an unspecified area of Brooklyn Heights in a three-bedroom co-op that will cost you approximately $52,000 to $61,000.

With two dependents or more, the income limits range between $40,235 and $151,750. And, no, I haven’t any idea how the requirements work or which buildings are available through the newly opened waiting lists.