OK - I nearly "bugged" out when I saw that my last posting was in August. So much for careful blogging about real estate.
So what did you do when you heard all the financial news announced?
I had such an image in my mind - 1989/1990 people screaming, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling." Clients would yell at me, "We're in a depression!" Why do people feel they need to scream? Our path to incredulous?
Well, I don't know about you but what I did was to pack my satchel and headed to the loving realm of two of my best friends on the coast of Oregon. What a welcome relief. The land of sweatshirts; pick-up trucks; and salmon. Oh dear am I waxing "Palin"? And three weeks later...
Guess what?
We are all still here.
I'd love to break out into song at this moment but we are still talking about real estate and still talking about deals.
Been there - done that - we like to say. Take faith, we do survive these things. Sometimes we just need to be a bit more creative.
So, in that light I'm announcing that tomorrow I head to Pennsylvania to do some campaigning - for Barack Obama. Yes, here I am a founding member of the Federalist Society at New York Law School. I made a call to Tom Cole's office to deliver the news. As if he cares?
So, musing on many issues, I'm grateful our Mayor will be around to help lead this City for a third term. I've never been for extending term limits, but on this call - I beg for it. God bless America.
And to inspire everyone, here are the news headlines tonight as delivered to me by the National Association of Realtors. Enjoy!
State News
NYC Council extends term limits
The New York City Council voted by a margin of 29 to 22 to approve Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to change the term-limits law so he can run for re-election following the conclusion of his second term, which ends in 2009. The bill gives all city officials an opportunity to run for a third term. A recent NY1 poll found that 89 percent of New Yorkers say the issue of term limits should be decided by a voter referendum. Meanwhile, 59 percent of city voters say they would “definitely” or “probably” vote for Bloomberg if he ended up on the ballot next year. Click here to find out how the Council voted.
Recent housing statistics
This past week a Prudential Douglas Elliman report found that the median sale price in Queens declined 11.4 percent to $400,000 from the comparable period in 2007. The report also said that sales dropped 35.3 percent to 3,240 transactions for the quarter, compared with the same time last year. The borough has been leading the city in foreclosures this year, up 100 percent compared to the third quarter of 2007. As for New York’s Capital Region, foreclosures have jumped 138 percent in one year, up from 232 foreclosures in the period of July-September 2007 to 553 for the same period in 2008. The silver lining in the Capital Region, despite the jump, is that the region had the 96th-lowest foreclosure rate among the country’s largest 100 metropolitan areas according to RealtyTrac.com.
New York schools could do more to cut property taxes
According to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, New York school districts are setting aside about $400 million too much in special accounts to pay for departing employees’ unused time. In a statement DiNapoli said: “School districts may have thought they were planning prudently for long-term costs, but they actually were stranding more than $400 million that could have been used to reduce property taxes.” DiNapoli further recommended that lawmakers pass legislation to require that districts remove excess money from the special accounts. The money could go toward property-tax relief, capital projects or other post-employment benefits. Click here for more information.
