Hi,
I hope you’re having a chance to slow down a little this weekend before another busy week begins. Like many of you, I spend part of every weekend catching up on what’s happening around the city and thinking about what it means for our business.
But first, let’s take a look at the market stats.
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Market Dashboard
Financing
30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate: 6.66%
Manhattan
Active Inventory: 6,624
New Listings: 353
Signed Contracts: 263
Median Days on Market: 74 Days
Here are a few things that caught my eye this week.
The City issued another stop-work order on an office to residential conversion project. It’s the latest reminder that converting older office buildings into housing is proving to be more complicated than many people first imagined.
It reminded me how easy it is to look at a building and think, “Turn it into apartments.”
But, our business rarely rewards simple answers. Every building has its own issues. Every property has its own challenges. Every deal has its own personalities. What looks straightforward from the outside often becomes much more complicated once you begin asking questions.
That isn’t a criticism of office conversions. New York needs more housing, and I hope many of these projects succeed. It was simply a reminder that progress in this city is almost always harder than it first appears.
Another thing that caught my eye this week was the continued discussion surrounding the FARE Act and it’s impact on rental agents. Whether you agree with it or not isn’t really the point.
It reminded me that our business is always evolving. Markets change. Rules change. Consumer expectations change. Through it all, New York agents do what they’ve always done, we adapt and keep moving forward.
Next week I’ll share some thoughts about helping buyers understand what they can really afford before they fall in love with an apartment.
Think Beyond The Deal.
George