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

Tribeca loft goes for $3.15 million in city auction

The Ice House, 27 N. Moore St. in Tribeca.

With only a single competitor, a Long Island man won a two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 27 N. Moore St. for the favorable price of $3.15 million at the city’s auction of nine apartments in Manhattan today.

Public Administrator Ethel J. Griffin had set the minimum price at $3 million for the more than 2,000-sf loft, which had been owned by one Veronica Lee in a building called the Ice House.  According to Curbed.com, Lee paid $774,000 for the unit in 1999 and died owing JP Morgan Chase $1.9 million left on her mortgage.

“I feel good,” successful bidder Mario Montoya told me after the auction, adding that he had been prepared to offer “a little more.”

City to auction off $3 million condo, 8 other units

Condominium called the Ice House at 27 North Moore St. in Tribeca

The sale of a condo with a minimum bid of $3 million is the highlight of a new estate auction scheduled for June 28 by Public Administrator Ethel J. Griffin.

Among the eight other apartments to go on the block starting at 11:30 a.m. are three income-limited units, a co-op in the Kips Bay neighborhood and one on the Upper West Side in the Lincoln Towers complex.

The $3 million unit is in the Ice House, at 27 North Moore St., in Tribeca.  It was owned by one Veronica Lee, but I have been unable to find verifiable information about her.

What I know is that

The Big Apple: Rentals hot, Hamptons too. More!

Employment posts gain in June, but jobless rate continues to stall

The city’s unemployment rate in June went to 8.7 percent from May’s 8.6 percent, the state Department of Labor reported.

The one-month rise was not itself a significant increase, but after falling consistently each month for nearly a year starting last spring, there have now been four consecutive months without a noticeable decline in the city’s jobless rate.

Most of the drop in the rate from its 10 percent peak has come not from significant job gains but as a result of discouraged job seekers leaving the work force.

The city added 51,400 private sector jobs in the 12 months ending in June. The 1.6 percent growth rate, “is pretty good by historical standards,” according to James Brown, principal economist at the labor department.

Rental rigmarole challenges prospective tenants

With a vacancy rate in Manhattan of under 1 percent, apartments sometimes rent in hours, not days or weeks. Good tenants are not that hard to find. On top of that, evicting problem tenants can be expensive and time-consuming.

So, as the New York Times observes, most landlords here require a lot of information.

They want to see a prospective tenant’s tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, proof of employment, photo identification and, sometimes, reference letters from previous landlords.

Everyone will run a credit check (many Manhattan landlords look for a score above 700) and just about all, from big management firms to small-time landlords, want to know that your gross income is somewhere between 40 and 50 times the monthly rent.

Luxury sales in the East End