Summertime seems to be season where most developers and marketing agents want to cut back on their advertising because it's rumored that many sales don't happen in the off season. While sales may see a decline in these months I can't understand why someone would pull their internet advertising program, to put it on hold or to canceling it to later revamp it in the next quarter. The whole goal here is to make a new homebuyers aware of your development and as far as I know, no one is turning their attention away from the net for three months in the summer. New Condos Online is has seen a recent pickup in new clients due to this way of thinking, the logic that their project maintains a status online as a brand and when they list with New Condos Online their listing is further optimized within the specific city and state -- That's like a scaled down version of an SEO campaign for your developments website! we have been brining on new developments all over New York City as the season heats up.

Take The Revere of example --This 30 story dark brown brick tower on the southeast corner of First Avenue and 54th street has an impressive and elegant entrance in a small plaza that is raised a few steps above the sidewalk. The 229 unit was built in 1970 and converted to a condominium project about 10 years later -- It has recently gone under some major renovations and makes a definite . It is in a great location close to many convenience stores and mass transportation, close to Sutton Place and Beekman Place with a flair for old New York. the building has a 24 hour concierge and adds to the beauty of the New York City skyline.

We just returned from a fantastic trip to New York City to meet with major sales and markreting firms such as Corcoran, Prudential Douglas Elliman, Core Group Marketing, and Halstead.  New Condos Online is in the process of formalizing new partnerships in New York as it is the most successful and yet undamaged condo market in the country. 

The first quarter of 2008 showed amazing stats with home prices having increased and sales still going strong.  Average and median prices for New York City condos (mainly in the Manhattan area) are well over $1 million, a 13.2% increase as compared to the same quarter in 2007.  In comparison to 2007, sales have decreased a bit but only because 2007 was a record market for closings of New York condos.  The amount of supply is still high but this is of course do to heavy construction of new condo developments.  As many probably saw on the news last week, a high-rise construction crane collapsed and fell into a building!

The same forces are keeping the markret healthy that played a role last year:  foreign buyers, out of state buyers, and affluent consumers.  Actually, many buyers in New York are coming from the West Coast, specifically California.  I guess our ridiculous prices in California aren't enough for some consumers!

For those of you keeping an eye on new developments in the New York and New Jersey area, we just added Riverwalk Court and The Thread in Union City, New Jersey.  Through some new partnerships we will be adding about 20 new developments or more over the next couple weeks.  Stay tuned!

New Condos Online, in affiliation with Matzel and Mumford and Sherman advertising bring you the elegant residences titled Bayport On Lake's Bay, consisting of 131 new luxury townhomes. Each three-story house will contain two bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a single-car garage. Taking advantage of the stunning waterfront views and situated just feet from the shore, the development has the master bedroom of each unit facing toward the bay. In addition to providing much-needed area housing, this project started out as a reclamation of the beautiful seaside where volunteers and the town of Atlantic City got together to clean up the site -- it resulted in a fresh terraformation and set the stage for a clean working palette where Bayport On Lake's Bay now sites.

Bayport on Lake's Bay sits near the entrance to Atlantic City's condos and offers a great blend of bayside living while having the convenience of a resort amenities at the press of a button, or a walk down the street. Atlantic City boasts a bustling and exciting nightlife, Being this close to Atlantic City offers an exciting lifestyle, with the beaches and boardwalks nearby the intertwining nightlife and relaxation benefits are a just one factor to this appealing development.

The streets of Manhattan, New York are packed with European tourists and foreign travelers shopping for gifts and valuables of all kinds.  The dollar is the weaker currency so foreign consumers are buying up products right and left and getting amazing deals.  Holiday gifts are not all they are buying.  New York condos are at the top of their wish lists as well!

While the rest of us are worried about market conditions, year end bonuses, and interest rates, foreign investors are keeping New York real estate agents busy and are buying up mid level to high end luxury condos. 

For what has been a very slow month for real estate, even in New York which has been the strongest housing and condo market in the country, agents are now increasingly busy and waking up early to talk to European buyers oversees.  Everyone is taking advantage of the exchange rate and purchasing multi-million dollar New York condos for investment purchases. 

In the last two years, the number of foreign condo buyers has doubled and they have purchased up to one third of the inventory during that time.  In other words, while other markets in the country have suffered, foreign investors are keeping the New York real estate market alive and well.  With all the new development continuing to permeate the market, the absorption rates would be way down if it were not for our friends from overseas.

Foreign buyers have been keeping the condo market afloat in Manhattan and love the amenities and flexibility in buying.  Co-ops are not a great investment for foreign buyers as it would be difficult to even qualify.  Rules for renting the unit are much more strict in co-ops as well.  Many of these buyers use this as an investment vehicle so renting flexibility is key.

Mccann Development is currently advertising two great new projects with www.newcondosonline.com.  McCann Development is a New York based, fully integrated real estate development company. McCann is currently under development with over fourteen hundred residential homes in three Florida developments which including NCO's Palmetto Cove, The Oasis, and Windsor Lake Estates. In additionon, Mccann is building Hunter's Chase at Litchfield, a new condo project just outside of New York City, due to be completed in 2010. 

Hunter's Chase at Litchfield is the first new town-house project to be built in Litchfield County, Conn., in more than 20 years! The new residential community combines classic New England charm, a maintenance-free lifestyle, state-of-the-art amenities and a unique country setting. Units start as low as $400,000 and range in size up to 3000 sq. ft.

We have seen the New York luxury condo market make impressive gains in 2007 while the rest of the country struggles.  The high end luxury condo market continues to hold strong as prices and demand continue to be through the roof.  Major metropolitan cities have the benefit of being a great investment target for international investors, but the fact remains in the luxury market that affluent people are still willing to buy regardless of “national” market trends. 

Banks are taking the opportunity to lend on $10 million mortgages because they can then bundle and sell those high end mortgages to the open market to make up for all the defaults and foreclosures on the lower end.  San Francisco condos in the luxury sector seem to be following the same trend.  Sales for the 4th quarter have outpaced the 3rd quarter in the high end market by almost double.  Average price per square foot keeps going up and is now at $1,200 while time on market has gone down to an average of 45 days!

Buyers in the high end San Francisco condo market want great views and 24 hour concierges.  And they are getting it all!  In most of the other markets across the country regardless of how many incentives and amenities are thrown at the buyers, values continue to fall.  Many experts say 2008 will be no different for most of the country.  The real naysayers think 2008 may not even be the bottom, be we won’t get into that!  Most of us are hoping for a turn-around towards the end of 2008. 

Manhattan Residential Unfazed By Subprime Woes

By Paul Bubny

Although news reports throughout the summer pointed to a slump in the US housing market due to a credit crunch brought on by the subprime crisis, experts say it doesn’t appear to have made much of an impact in Manhattan.

“In the New York City marketplace, we’re not feeling it at all,” says Bob Scaglion, director of residential leasing at Rose Associates Inc. “There’s still a tremendous need for rental housing, and obviously the developers who are planning future developments are aware of the situation, but I haven’t seen any slowdown or hesitation in planning of future developments for the rental market.”

He calls the rental market right now is at an all-time high in terms of values, and demand’s extremely high. Everybody’s full. When something turns over it doesn’t take very long to fill it up.  It’s about as healthy a rental market as we’ve ever seen.

Scaglion adds that “if the crunch continues and it affects jobs and income at Wall Street, the first place that’ll ever feel it will be the sales market. The rental market will be the last place to feel it. We really don’t anticipate that happening.”

There is a new star on the map in the New York Condos scene. The South Star, claimed to be Downtown’s smartest buy, is over 85% sold and offering newly released one, two, and three bedroom condos. Located in the center of New York City’s Financial District, The South Star is just steps away from many of Manhattan’s pleasures – dining at Delmonico’s, shopping at Hermes, or relaxing at the South Street Seaport, just to name a few.

The South Star Features a 24-hour Attended Lobby, Architect Designed Lobby and Corridors, Hotel Gansevoort Privileges (including access to Gansevoort Concierge, Roof Desk Sky Bar, and Ono), Two 1-year Memberships to the Complete Body Development On-Site Fitness Center, 24-hour Attended Public Garage with Direct Elevator Access, Laundry Rooms on Floors 2-17, Valet in building, and a Live-in Superintendent

*The Garage is available at additional cost - which is huge if you know what the average New Yorker pays to house their vehicle. Check out South Star and other new condo communities in Manhattan on www.NewCondosOnline.com.

If you are on the market for a new condo in New York, it would be worth your while to check out Dover Condos, Located on a quiet tree lined street of stylish brownstones in Harlem. Dover condos recently opened its doors as the premier boutique condominium in historic Harlem. The Dover, originally comprised of two brownstones, has been completely renovated from the bottom up and now features twelve condominiums – six units in each building. Single-level, duplex or garden apartments with one or two bedrooms and 1½, 2 or 2½ bathrooms range in size from 813 square feet to 1427 square feet. Prices Range from $545,000 to $845,000, which is very affordable considering the amazing amenities and size of the units. Check out NCO's New York Condos page today for a look at all of out new condo options for new homebuyers.

New York City has yet to become victim to the slowing market and mortgage crisis.  New York condos are still selling like hot cakes at ALL price levels.  Foreign investors are still pouring money into this market and values are holding strong as are absorption rates.  It is a very interesting market to discuss as it seems so far to be invincible to the surrounding market conditions.  It seems the only thing that could touch the New York condo market is a drastic shift in the employment rate in the financial industry.  We'll see!

Some of the NCO team is heading back to NY again in a couple weeks to have interviews with TheStreet.com, Inc.com/Inc. Magazine, WSJ, and GQ believe it or not.  We are meeting at the Visionaire in Battery Park for a photo shoot and to discuss the progress of the project. 

Since we generally look at real estate cycles on both local and national scales, especially in the housing industry, everyone seems to have their eye on New York right now.  The city is thriving regardless of exorbitant living costs and steep real estate prices.  New York probably has more construction permits issued for new condo developments than any other city right now (that's just a guess).

It will be interesting to see what happens in the condo market in New York over the next year or so...

I have a phone interview today with Real Estate Weekly and we will be discussing a very interesting topic.  As we all know, mortgage stocks are struggling right now.  It is tougher for mortgage banks to bundle loans and sell them as securities now because of the whole sub-prime disaster.  Then or course we are all seeing the media put out something new everyday about foreclosures.  So many people who were in sub-prime loan products, interest only loans, adjustable rate mortgages, etc. are in foreclosure now because they can no longer afford their home.

An interesting market to look at in contrast to the rest of the country is New York - specifically the Manhattan area.  National foreclosure rates are up about 35% while NY rates actually went down by about 2.78%.  New York is a completely different market however with different restrictions and guidelines as to how and when a bank can foreclose.  People with mortgage loans in NY still actually own their homes.  If a bank want to foreclose it takes longer and costs more than in any other state.  The banks are not real estate companies and it is costly to hold these real estate assets once the foreclosure process is complete.  It makes more sense for everyone involved to work out the loan.

Manhattan is a market that is providing new opportunities for mortgage stocks.  The housing market is still very healthy, absorption rates are great, owners still have the ability to sell their homes and condos quickly if they are in trouble, and wealthy people are taking massive mortgages on new homes and New York condos.  Condo sales accounted for 49% of home sales in Manhattan during the first three months of the year.  many of the mortgage loans are between $2 million and $10 million!

Well, we are off to New York tomorrow for the New Condos Online media tour.  NCO has hired a new major PR firm that will be making efforts to build our global brand, increase traffic and exposure, and catch the eye of other potential partnering companies.  The New York condo market has been hot for NCO.  We have major partnerships such as Sherman Advertising, The Marketing Directors, and Americas Media Group that have brought representation from many new developments in the area.

NCO has a profile in the August issue of The MANN Report, a New York business journal.  We also have interviews lined up with the New York Times, Business Week, CNBC, and so on.  This strategy will only further solidify NCO's top placement in the industry and position us well against competitors.  That is really the least of our concerns as our main focus is to continue to provide a valuable product to our clients and a great resource for our users.  Gaining more exposure for NCO will help our condo developers further expand their reach to potential buyers and gain visibility to foreign investors which is so important right now. 

There will be plenty more to come, so we will keep you posted! 

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=3337326&ch=61492&src=news

Ok- This is crazy, but parking spaces in New York City are now going for $225,000 a spot. Check our the video above. Spots in Boston go for as much as $175,000, and in Chicago as much as $75,000. Many of these people buying the spots don't even own a car or intend to park there. They are buying the spots and flipping them like condos and or renting them out for a lot of money. We have seen this in the condo market for a while now, but in the parking lot market?  The number of cars in the US has tripled in the last 50 years.  For $225,000 you can still buy a house in some markets or a nice Ferrari. 

For more information on the New York Condo Market  Click Here

As home prices dissipate in many areas of the country, condo prices in New York, specifically Manhattan, rose 28% in the first quarter of this year as compare to the same quarter in 2006.  New York has variations in attached for-sale housing…apartments, condos, and co-ops.  New York condos are hotter than ever because there is no shortage of wealthy buyers in the city as well as foreign buy/investors that have been snatching up massive multi-million dollar units.    Everyone loves the new condos for all the obvious reasons and co-ops have been shooting themselves in the foot so to speak with too many regulars and demands for liquidity and assets.  The new condo developments offer all of the great amenities you hear about:  24 concierge services, spas, pet care, etc.  The prices of course have been sky-rocketing, but the demand and absorption has far from slowed. Co-ops on the other hand have been passed up by buyers and investors for the new developments.  Foreign investors who are sinking millions into New York and buying large and extravagant condominiums, have passed on co-ops assuming they will not be approved by the boards anyway.  Many extremely wealthy individuals with solid portfolios and plenty of assets are turned away for no reason and very little explanation.  Co-op boards have such convoluted restrictions…and let’s be honest, a lot of

OK, so some of you may remeber my last post about Home Owner Boards not allowing certain breeds of dogs in condos. This new story I cam across is just wrong. There is a guy who survived the 9-11 and the attacks on the World Trade Center who lives in a New York City Condo with his German Shepherd. 

Marvin Pickrum says his dog, Jazzman, was recommended as therapy. Neighbors say the dog is bigger than allowed by the condo’s code that limits dogs to 35 pounds, and has attacked another dog.- source www.coshoctontribune.com  Neighbors are trying to evict the dog and a hearing is scheduled for next week to decide whethere or not he can keep the dog.

Pickrum said that the dog really helps him cope since the attacks and I firmly believe he should be allowed to have the dog in the condo. Obviously, they should put some restrictions in so it stays away from the other dogs, but the dog should stay.

If you have a dog and plan on buying a condo in New York City, it is very important that you read all the HOA laws very carefully. many of them have weight and size limits for dogs. I have heard of stories where a dog adds a few pounds and then gets evicted. Those New York HOA laws can be pretty cruel.  There are a lot of dog friendly New York Condos, so be careful to find out the laws before you consider buying a condo there.

King of New York City Condos- www.newcondosonline.com now represents more new condo developments in New York than any other website

www.newcondosonline.com is the first and largest new condo advertising portal in the world.  Since moving into the New York City market, the website has taken the marketing world by storm. They just signed their 25th development today in New York City today after only being active in the city for just over 1 year.  New Condos Online has developed a very large presence in the New York and Jersey City markets in a very short time period.

The New York Condo market is very different from other markets. There are over 150 new condo developments going up in the city right now with a wide range of prices and the most amenities one has ever seen in a building. Many of the condos also have strict co-op laws and often larger down payments are required unlike other cities. With so many New York Condos to choose from, www.newcondosonline.com gives its user base a marketplace to browse all the new condo projects, visit the websites for each development, and easily request information on each community.

As technologies and information systems increase in commonality and availability, more condos and homes are being outfitted with systems that make life that much more convenient.  Technology components in condos are now becoming so common that it is almost expected, just as water and electricity are.  The most simple of these technologies consists of programs that control lighting, the blinds, and climate.  This is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what many condo developers are including in their new projects.  

New condo developments from New York to New Jersey are including full-scale computer systems that can control audio and visual function so you can listen to different types of music in different rooms or transfer a movie from on TV to another.  Other automated systems link condo residents to concierge services so they can make dinner reservations without picking up the phone.  Residents can see if there are lines at local restaurants or nightclubs, receive confirmation when the children come home, or see when washing machines become available in the laundry rooms.  The best part is that there technologies are being offered in New York condos of all price ranges.

We all know that builders have offered some pretty wild incentives in the recent months and years.  Apparently, builders are not the only ones offering the incentives to buyers…the city of Buffalo, New York is offering buyers in a new lakefront condo development a 10 year tax break equating to approximately $100,000 in savings.  Is this fair to other residents paying taxes?

Waterfront Place project — 15 red brick town houses and a 13- story, 48-unit condominium tower — is already under way in one of the last remaining parcels of undeveloped land at Waterfront Village.  The strange thing is that this is one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city and condo sales are doing quite well.  The buyers are qualified and affluent.  The city though is apparently willing to do anything to help developers of high-end projects like these get the shovel in the ground.  Luxury New York condos such as these offer great benefits to the city as well.  The city can justify the use of tax abatements because of the added value of tax and investment income the city will receive as a result of the luxury condos. 

The tax breaks offered are said to be crucial and a deciding factor in whether the project generates a profit or a loss.  The development will obviously have high construction costs and have an asking price well above anything else in the area. 

So I guess the question is “who is really benefiting…the developer and the city, or the buyers?”