Yes, we did survive the Con Edison steam pipe explosion which was across from our building...Wednesday's torrential rain (you haven't truly experienced Manhattan until you see water pouring down the central escalators of Grand Central and the subways all stop running) - and TORNADOES - in New York City! Gads. 20 years ago I remember commenting that soon we would see palm trees growing on 42nd Street, and my goodness we still have wacky weather. Doesn't that bring us to the question - when isn't it wacky?
So enough about the weather - on about real estate. Still our luxury market is strong, we can't get enough of great product in GREAT locations. Resales are strong IF the sellers have renovated and renovated well. If you can not tell the difference between Home Depot and hand crafted cabinets - well, on some people it can be lost, but on those who know -- the properties are being snatched as quickly as they come on the market.
This has been a very busy summer for us even with the many fluctuations in temperature and weather. The fall season is going to be very interesting.
What I will find will take some study is what is occurring with jumbo rate loans (417K and higher). That does affect our Manhattan market where most of the loans are jumbo simply because of the initial high cost of property. This week the rates jumped up - banks are tightening (to some of us - we believe it's about time) the requirements qualifying buyers. Most of our high end customers will continue to be unaffected by these changes; however, first time buyers will be affected.
My contact at Trachtman & Bach, Inc., the very capable Janine Baron, alerted me to the hold on home equity loans that has just squashed their products. Buyers need to scrutinize their credit reports - clean up any delinquencies - so they can be at the forefront of receiving a preferred loan rate.
No comments:
Post a Comment