Weekly Roundup: Wall Street’s impact spreads, musicians move on, bottom glimpsed, prices weak, builders beat forecasts, lowballing fails

Manhattan agents confident about city, but Wall Street’s labor pains may hit suburbs harder

The Edge tops list of new developments with most condo sales in first quarter

New listings search site is nice to users

Refusing to hear case, Supreme Court ensures continuation of rent stabilization

The bind that renters endure is tie that’s tight or liberating

Bedbug complaints Continue reading

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 Continue reading