Tag: International

Tony Sargent has released an e-version of his Luxury Real Estate newsletter The Sargent Report – Spring 2015. The current issue features 2015 New York market predictions and other articles: Luxury New Development Update, International Snapshot, Digital 3.0 – Tech & Real Estate, and more.

As the world’s local agent, Tony Sargent provides his unique perspective and insight on Manhattan’s luxury market, as well as globally connected world-cities. A local expert, Tony has developed a private global network of top brokers with whom he shares clients and market knowledge to his clients’ benefit. Tony is tapped to speak at Industry events such as Inman Connect and RE/MAX’s European Annual Convention as well as many others and was recently invited to be a regular author/contributor to the highly acclaimed real estate industry news-site, Inman News recently.

To read the full four-page issue of The Sargent Report as a PDF, click here or on the Report in the right column. For a mobile-friendly Flip-book version, click here.

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While 2013 has seen Manhattan luxury real estate flying off the market the larger story is that every great 1 to 3-bedroom apartment has 3+ buyers desiring to buy it. Here are 6 reasons why this trend is sustainable:

1. Manhattan apartment stock is approximately 70% rental. With only 30% of apartments for sale there is already a built in potential for inventory shortage as society becomes increasingly affluent and established. Also while only 25% of apartments are condominiums/new developments, they accounted for approximately 50+% of all sales in the boom years, foreshadowing today’s re-sale inventory shortage.  Additionally, co-op owners stay in their units longer than condo owners putting enormous pressure on existing re-sale inventory.
2. New development construction dried up for five years starting in 2008.  Today most new developments are aimed at the high-end market and priced at $2,000+ per square foot leaving overall mid-level re-sale inventory at 12-15 year lows.
3. As newly minted Social Media and Internet entrepreneurs join the growing ranks of the global “1%” and baby boomers buying in New York, while Wall Street performance continues to be a barometer of the strength of Manhattan’s market, in 2013 the market has become less dependent on Wall Street’s middle level employee bonuses to remain strong.
4. Lifestyle & Safety = people-friendly, family-friendly and senior-friendly. The safety of Manhattan and New York (look at Brooklyn) has grown exponentially with computer-modeled policing and development of areas once seen as off-limits.  Long-time residents mingle with baby-strollers as families decide to remain in New York. The great cultural lifestyle offered in Manhattan is drawing back wealthy baby-boomers to Manhattan from the suburbs while keeping those who would have left 20 years ago, in the city longer.
5. High Rents and low mortgage rates continue to drive buyers of all price points back to the sales market.
6. TV, Innovation & Tech: Entertainment filmed in New York adds to the city’s appeal to people, globally.

A beacon for leading creative or financial professionals, as well as global entrepreneurs desiring to make a splash, all arrows are pointing up again in New York.

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From New York to Hong Kong, Bali to Cannes, homeowners around the world love their pools. Whenever I fly into any of New York’s airports during the summer months swimming pools shine blue in the green landscape. From backyard above-ground maxi-tubs to huge Hampton’s mansions with beautifully landscaped lawns surrounding them, pools speak to our need for a sense of water and freedom to escape into another world. In Manhattan Luxury Real Estate, townhouses or luxury apartment buildings with swimming pools command a premium.

The infinity pool is the design that usually takes my breath away. Read more…

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Will the changes in Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P’s recent downgrade of US Debt to AA create a negative impact on the Manhattan real estate market?

The strongest evidence for how the market will fare today will be to look back to the market crash of 2008. After the collapse of Bear Stearns, there was a three to four week pause in market activity, especially from the Wall Street segment of property buyers. After that initial gap, buyer activity resumed for a month before the market’s typical summer lull, but after Lehman collapsed, there was once again a period of very little activity. Real estate sales started from the entry level of the market and only gradually moved to the luxury segment. As the economy began to stabilize and buyers became more accustomed to their new reality, the Manhattan real estate market bounced back – fueled by the 2010 rise of the Dow and the global equity markets.

But what will happen as a result of our current market instability? Read more…

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