With this ongoing series of interviews, I endeavor to expand our collective insight into the people, events, and trends that have a positive effect on the real estate industry. My guests are visionaries who are integral in shaping the way we live in the world today. I sincerely hope you enjoy learning from them as much as I have.

Woody Heller is a broker’s broker. He is one of the most successful and well respected commercial brokers in the industry. He is executive managing director and group head of the capital transactions group at Studley. I had the pleasure of speaking with him about the challenges in the market,  where we might be headed, and his insight as a broker.

“I keep hearing ‘it’s a buyer’s market.’  I am considering trading up, but I need to sell my apartment first—is it a really a good time to sell?”

“What kind of discounts can I really get in today’s market?”

“I want to buy in a new-construction condo.  Is it a good idea?  Will I get a loan from a bank?”

“I read in the news that it’s really hard to get financing—is it true?”

“The Case-Shiller housing index seems to portent the end of the real-estate free-fall, but unemployment is still up in New York, and the stock market is gyrating.  Where do you think the market is going?”

For these and other good questions you may have, come to an expert roundtable discussion, where Caroline Grane and Arthur Hung, 2 of Downtown’s most accomplished brokers, and a top mortgage professional from Bank of America will help you separate the wheat from the chaff.  All in a casual setting, over fine wines and appetizers, at CORE’s elegant new flagship retail space at 127 Seventh Avenue (at 18^th Street).

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Time: 7:30 – 8:30 PM

R.S.V.P. requested, but not required, to ahung@corenyc.com.

Who to listen to?

A: IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR.

It’s that time again. All the responsible communicators of our industry analyze the “quarterly reports”, and educate the consumer about where things are……supposedly. The problem is that none of them reflect the same parameters of information.

CORE is the first company that started a Realtime Report that reflects CONTRACT SIGNED data, and not CLOSED SALES data. Simply, this means we reflect data from a specific time in the market when deals are being consummated, not data from a broad time period from months (or years) ago on negotiated deals that happen to close in the same period. This is why we see a lot of data that trails the market by as much as a year or more, and remains inconsistent to what brokers, buyers, and sellers are experiencing in Real Time!

Here’s this past Quarter’s Realtime Report.

The bottom is staring you in the face

Hindsight is not always 20/20………. and it’s amazing how quickly things turn. For better or worse.

It has been 2 years since the sub prime mortgage industry credit crunch rippled through the globe.

It has been 18 months since the collapse of Bear Stearns.

It has been a year since the fall of Lehman Brothers.

The Manhattan residential market has lost almost 50% value in some sectors since its peak in 2007. A drop that came quicker and more dramatically than ever before. Yes, even more than Black Monday 1987.

Crains’ Amanda Fung covered a story yesterday about the recent activity over the summer. My opinion is that the value of the market has levelled off, and once banks start lending again (hopefully soon), the velocity of deals will pick up. 

Next year this time, there will be a number of people who will be saying “I could have…………. I would have……….I should have!”

I recently sat down with Stuart Elliott, editor of The Real Deal. In six short years, he has helped the publication become a major source of real estate news for New York City. I hope you enjoy the interview.

…………and the July Realtime Report numbers have just come in. Read more here.

Shaun Osher was recently interviewed by Multi Housing News. He discussed The Realtime Report, the Manhattan housing market, green living and more…

COME SEE WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER

The weather channel predicts a gorgeous Summer weekend in the city. Here’s our weekend open house schedule for Manhattan and Brooklyn. We’d love to see you stop by. Click the links below for a complete list.

7_18_09 Open Houses_ Manhattan

7_18_09 Open Houses_ Brooklyn

……..in spite of a falling market. I contend that some of the most creative thinkers and innovators have come to the surface with their best work in times that seem dire. Some of history’s greatest works come at times that seem the most depressed. Art and commerce act independantly.

Axis Mundi has designed an alternative to Jean Nouvel design for the Hines site on 53rd Street next to MOMA. While it has received some unfounded criticism for trying to replace an already well conceived design , I applaud this work. This type of creative process is what pushes the boundaries of the ordinary and evokes ideas that will ultimately advance our status quo.

John Beckmann sent me this email today, and has graciously allowed me to post it here below. Read the rest of this entry »

This morning I spoke with Erika Schnitzer from Multi-Housing News and gave her my opinions about where the market is, and might be going. Read the story here.