Weekly Roundup: Shortage of condos, rates down again, strong signs of U.S. recovery, ugliest house

Lottery opens for 682 affordable housing rentals in Clinton

Number of condos projected to enter market in next few years likely to fall short of demand

With supply of condos dropping steeply, prices rise strongly

Basic steps can smooth apartment sale even before listing or searching

Biggest moving decision for parents centers on schools

Fierce competition in Manhattan pushes investors to outlying areas such as Nassau County

High rents causing drain of the middle class, comptroller reports

But billionaires buying many rooms they can afford with unforgettable views

New site grades each city block based on reviews of everything from crime to school, amenities (register free)

Rents for Boerum Hill studios swell 10 percent since July, topping gains elsewhere in Brooklyn

Accepting cash offer, an Ives grandson stymies plan to turn late composer’s home into museum

Actress is stoked to sell her Village duplex for $7 million

Music mogul lists 66th-floor condo for $8.5 million

After moving to California and renting out her downtown condo, Ryan’s daughter asks $1.645 for the unit (3rd item)

Curbed rounds up the buy and sell of Law and Order cast

Real divorce has couple putting Beverly Hills estate on the market for $26 million

Resales climb, prices go up and inventory

What about so many auctions? It’s the economy.

A collection of 14 deteriorating South Bronx apartment buildings has been snapped up by a real estate development company led by former New York Met first baseman Maurice “Mo” Vaughn in a foreclosure auction,  Amanda Fung reports in Crain’s.

The properties were owned by entities of the Ocelot Capital Group, which abandoned them, let them fall into disrepair and eventually defaulted on the mortgage.

Poor Stuyvesant Town is in serious trouble

The sprawling Manhattan apartment complex known as Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town – acquired for $5.4 billion in 2006 by a venture of Tishman Speyer Properties and a unit of Black Rock – is running out of cash, the Wall Street Journal reports.

As of the end of September, it had $33.7 million left of the $400 million in interest reserves set up to service its debt, according to the people familiar with the matter. At its current burn rate of about $16 million per month, the reserve could be depleted before the end of the year, the people said. Others have said the venture could avoid default until February.