Spotlight: New York
NEW•YORK•STATE’S•RECOVERY•APPEARS• TO•HAVE•STARTED.•ITS•CONTINUATION• WILL•DEPEND•IN•
PART•ON•GOVERNOR-ELECT•ANDREW•M.•CUOMO.
Brokers derided the state attorney general for his role in establishing the now-expired Home Valuation
Code of Conduct.
There’s reason for concern about what might follow, particularly in New York City, where residential
property sales in the five boroughs totaled $8.37 billion this past third quarter, a year-over-year spike
of 26.2 percent and the fourth consecutive quarterly increase, according to the Real Estate Board of
New York (REBNY).
The increase followed statewide foreclosure declines. Total foreclosure filings dropped 7.1 percent in the
year ending this past second quarter, according to Realty Trac. The state’s year-over-year single-family
home median price increased 11. 7 percent in the same quarter, the New York State Association of Realtors reported, and sales increased 30. 9 percent.
As for the Cuomo concern: Less than a month before this past November’s gubernatorial election, the
New York State Banking Department mandated lender and servicer foreclosure-process reviews following the “robosigner” scandal. Four days later, the election approaching, Cuomo requested a statewide
foreclosure moratorium.
For more on the New York mortgage and real estate market, see sctsm.in/4376.
New York City Condos
Brooklyn’s condo market showed
the largest sales surge among the
city’s five boroughs in the year ending this past third quarter, more than
doubling to 914 closed transactions,
according to REBNY. Despite increased volume, Brooklyn’s median
condo price declined by $2,000.
NEW YORK CIT Y CONDO SALES
The median price in the Bronx, on
the other hand, jumped 40 percent.
Ninety Bronx condos sold this past
third quarter, a 20-percent increase
compared to a year earlier.
Source: Real Estate Board of New York
In Manhattan, sales increased 26 percent while prices increased 6 percent. Condo sales citywide grew
40 percent in the 12-month period.
Statewide Loan Delinquency
New York state’s overall mortgage delinquency increased to 8. 8 percent this past second quarter
from 8.1 percent a year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, but remained below
the national average of 9. 4 percent. Among states, New York had the 13th highest concentration
of subprime loans and ranked 41st in Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lending. While prime
and subprime delinquency rose year-over-year, FHA late-payments declined. New York’s delinquency
trends shadowed the U.S.
Unemployment
New York state’s unemployment
rate stayed within half a percentage point of the U.S. average for
53 consecutive months ending
July ’08, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In the more
than two years since, New York job
losses have trailed the national
trend despite more than 367,000
jobs lost statewide from April ’08
through December ’09, the state
comptroller reported. About one-sixth of those losses occurred in
the finance sector.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES
Source: U. S. Department of Labor
Since December ’09, the state has added more than 60,000 jobs, led largely by New York City and envi-
rons. Personal incomes, however, decreased by 3.1 percent in 2009, the first annual decline in 70 years.
3 Regions to Watch
WESTCHESTER COUNTY
One of the nation’s first large-scale suburbs, this
northern neighbor of New York City saw single-family home sales increase 69 percent this past
second quarter compared to a year earlier, the
Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service reported. The single-family median sale price grew
7. 5 percent to $607,500 but remained almost
$100,000 below its second-quarter ’07 mark.
BUFFALO-NIAGARA
The median sales price in western New York
tied an all-time high of $119,000 this past August, according to the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors. One catch: Sales declined
by 43 percent, making it the slowest August
in more than a decade. With year-over-year
foreclosures down 60.5 percent this past third
quarter in Eerie County, home to Buffalo, distressed-property deals are dwindling.
SYRACUSE METRO
This central New York metropolitan statistical
area posted stronger employment figures than
the state average for the sixth straight month
this past August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Year-over-year home sales in Onondaga County increased 16.9 percent this past
second quarter while prices dipped 1.3 percent,
the state Realtors reported.
WHAT THE LOCALS SAY
“We have seen a degree of stability in the northern par t
of the state where appreciation wasn’t as rampant.
In downstate, we believe property values have also
stabilized, albeit significantly below where they were
two years ago. In New York City, we are seeing the
reasonably priced condominiums begin to move, and
transactions are taking place at a healthy clip.”
— DAVID WIND, PRESIDENT,
GUARANTEED HOME MORTGAGE CO. INC.
Sources: The Buffalo News, Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors, Legal
Newsline.com, Mortgage Bankers Association, New York State Association of
Realtors, New York State Banking Department, The New York Times, Office of
the (New York state) Attorney General, Onondaga County, Real Estate Board of
New York, ResidentialNYC.com, State of New York Comptroller, U.S. Department
of Labor, Westchester-Putnam Association of Realtors, Westchester-Putnam
Multiple Listing Ser vice
