Weekly Roundup: Hot sales, rising prices and rents, upward trending rates, online reno tools, conflicting recovery predictions and much more

Sales hot, hot, hot in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, where Williamsburg prices soar 23.6 percent in year

Even with continued inventory shortage, Q2 sales leap up

Average rent in city (excluding Staten Island) breaks $3,000 for first time

And median rent in Manhattan hits $3,195 in June, with Brooklyn’s jumping 13.5 percent since 2012

Many uptown adherents now embracing downtown neighborhoods they once considered unthinkable

Landlords, boards of co-ops and condos tailoring latest amenities to

Liking paperwork, you’ll love co-op renovations

(Flickr photo by luxomedia)

Anyone planning to undertake major renovations in a co-op apartment faces a forbidding task.  Without the building’s prior written consent to undergo structural alterations of an apartment, count on trouble ahead.

If you are a brave soul with plans to expand the kitchen you soon will acquire, add a bathroom or take down a wall, there is no guarantee that the co-operative will approve the alteration request.

Many boards won’t even consider

Weekly Roundup: Brooklyn, inventory, bidding strategy, prices, Airbnb, interest rates, owning vs. renting, inspired renovating and much more

Brooklyn’s fast-climbing home prices make it nearly as expensive as Manhattan

Transaction volume strongest in years, even with diminished supply

Graphic demonstrates depth of Manhattan inventory

Bicycles becoming new amenity in some buildings

Permits for new residential buildings skyrocket in first quarter

In this seller’s market, every minute counts

So does the right strategy in a bidding war

‘Hybrid’ home-seekers on the hunt

Prices in the Hamptons

Weekly Roundup: Hamptons, celebs, new-home sales, lower interest rates, auction spat, Baby Boomers, marble stains, housing’s headwinds

Court approves of class action lawsuits by tenants claiming rent overcharges when apartments illegally deregulated

Study: Living in New York actually relative bargain for the wealthy

Hudson Yards finally on track

Regret may define things you might do within your four walls

For politicians, finding a rental apartment differs from searches the mere mortals endure

Sandy deals lingering blow to Hamptons residential prices

Upper East Side developers scramble to convert projects as luxury market rebounds

Details of navigating schools choice provided by BrickUnderground

Council hearing on Fair Cooperative Procedure Law is set for April 30

Outdoor space on ground floor is expensive, but higher up more so for good reasons

Relationships sour between landlords and tenants of Dumbo lofts in converted factories

Q1 sales in the Hamptons 29.4 percent lower than same time last year

It’s time for spring house, garden tours

Interior designer with TV show finally

Weekly Roundup: New development sales, eccentric buyers, agents’ frothy remarks, free mortgage tutorial, economics of price changes

With inventory tight and prices climbing, sales of new condos plunge

Yet developers, marketers designing ever more spectacular penthouses, townhouses in buildings old and new

Recent law change could make maintenance-free apartments less rare

Buyers do the darndest things

New Yorker magazine lets you click on subway stops to gauge wealth

Beachfront homeowners in Southampton building ramparts against storms

No, says New York magazine, it’s not a bubble again

Disgraced athlete latches onto quarter-acre Texas compound in gated community after dumping old Austin home

Artist makes mark in SoHo with purchase of

Weekly Roundup: Latest rent stats, celebrities’ real estate, state of U.S. market, mortgage fraud, house swapping, growing consumer optimism

Manhattan rents shoot up 8.2 percent in a year, reaching $3,195 monthly

And Tribeca has biggest change in rents from prior month

Beating out other applicants means renting only what you can afford — and much more advice

Before signing lease, understand landlord’s perspective

Brooklyn, Queens attain highest average sales price in Q3 since 2007

Co-ops and condos

Weekly Roundup: Killing rents, Rat Island langor, celebrity doings, strong resales, shrinking inventory, negotiation advice, Home Depot vs. Ikea, shared households, lots of guessing. More!

Townhouse sales on upswing

Divided board okays 2 percent increase for rent-stabilized units, 4 percent if for 2-year lease

There’s a right way to approach board members with complaints

It’s still mainly doormen, not doorwomen

Apartments selling faster than a year ago

State to spend $60 million on legal services, counseling for homeowners

For delinquent condo residents, the white gloves are off

29 percent of residents spend more than half of their income on rent

Winner of Rat Island auction off City Island in the Bronx settles in

Court rules that rent-controlled apartment can’t be distributed in divorce

Singer is gambling on absolute auction for sale of estate previously listed for $3.5 million

Performance artist

Weekly Roundup: Condo sales spike, rents don’t quit, U.S. prices flat to up, rates once again set record, refi activity grows, media rooms fading

Condo sales volume spikes in May, listing prices fall as Manhattan inventory dwindles

With supply plunging 17.7 percent from May 2011, contract activity for Manhattan condos and co-ops soars 36 percent over a year earlier

Manhattan’s dollar volume of residential sales swamps other boroughs together at 62.5 percent of city’s total

When it comes to buying a home, the superrich are decidedly different from rest of us

Ease of finding a short-stay apartment is linked, of course, to how much tenant will pay

Buyers besieging brokers in Brooklyn neighborhoods

Applications for some affordable housing are starting to appear online

Compared with Grand Central and the Empire State Building, residential architecture often gets short shrift, magazine says

NYU expansion plan moves step closer to reality

Rents again establish record in Manhattan

Young singer’s family

Advance approval for renovations eludes buyers

Let’s renovate!

“Ah,” the prospective buyer coos, “this co-op has great potential.”

Uh, potential?

“What do you have in mind?” I might respond.

“Well, I’d like to take out that wall between the living room and dining room.  And it would be great to turn that closet into a powder room.  And. . . “

I point out that residents need to present an alteration agreement to the building’s board for approval of such an enterprise.

“Do you think there’ll be any problem?” the buyer invariably asks.

It is a good question and not one with an easy answer, surely not one with an absolute answer.

First, it is good to know or find out

Weekly Roundup: Manhattan sales pace up, condo prices rise, inventory is tight, rates hit another new low, consensus on recovery is developing

Townhouse where Weather Underground dwelling was destroyed in bomb explosion is listed for $10.9 million

Mystery buyer pays $90 million for Midtown penthouse at One57, breaking price record for an NYC condo

Entering a tall-buildings race, New York could have 6 of the 10 tallest buildings in the country by 2016

Majority of respondents prefer smoke-free living in the city

Madison Square’s commercial identity has in places ceded to residential character in recent years

Developers now show reluctance to offer incentives to purchasers of condos

Asking prices, sales zoom in