“The year ended on a record-breaking note, with more people than ever snapping up a home in Manhattan. Apartment sales hit a 30-year high in the fourth quarter of 2021 with 3,559 closed purchases of co-ops and condos, according to a report by Miller Samuel Inc. and Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
The median price of the apartments sold in the fourth quarter also soared to the highest they’ve been since 2018, at $1.17 million, with 9.2% of sales above asking price.“
It doesn’t tell you who the buyers are. 1%ers buying up investment real estate for rental properties doesn’t support the idea that people are flocking to NYC. Your average NYC resident can’t afford a million dollar anything.
Most of these people have more money than they know what to do with. They also like cities. So it’s no surprise. I wouldn’t live there at any price. If you gave me an apartment there, I’d sell it, and move elsewhere. Not because I don’t like cities, but because I don’t like NYC. I’d live in Boston in a heartbeat. NYC is a ■■■■■■■■■ Obviously others disagree.
There is a level of prestige that comes with living in an expensive flat in NYC. When money is not a problem for you, sometimes people make sacrifices just for that prestige.
If you buy a $1 million flat with 20% down you borrow (only) $800,000.
At today’s interest rates (3.1% for a 115-year fixed) your monthly payment is only $6,311
Taxes an condo fees in NYC are pretty high, but given what you can charge for rent in Manhattan, it is not a crazy investment.
It all comes down to personal choice, the several personal choices of the 300,000,000+ people living in the country and the cumulative effect caused by those choices.
While that is happening in New York City, rural America has declined in population over the last decade, according to official census results, including here in Surry County, North Carolina.
I could afford to live in Manhattan. I would not live there if I was given a penthouse for free.
On the other hand, many people have the ability to live rurally, but would never do so, even if given a free house and property in the country.
I am not exactly disappointed by the population drop in rural America, particularly the slight population drop in my own county and local area. On the contrary, I am quite happy that my area is retaining its rural characteristics and low population. It’s why I moved here.
I have nothing against the cities. Just not my cup of tea.
As a side note, I have both sold and acquired property using off market listings. Nothing inherently wrong with doing that. Just depends on the situation.
Yes for several decades now. People (of any race) born in the US have been leaving NYC and have been replaced by an even larger number of people born outside the US who enter NYC.
I have no reason to believe the forign-born “replacements” are there illegally so I will not compare it to a border town. It’s more like Ellis Island version 2.0.
No distinct pattern in rural areas. Wyalusing Township in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, is about demographically the same as in was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Surry County, North Carolina has reduced from about 95% white in the 1980’s to about 81% today. But it is NOT due to any influx of minorities, but an outflow of whites. White kids tend to leave town for greener pastures, while the kids of minorities are more likely to stay put.
Wealthy elite are purchasing properties not listed as available for the average buyer—which realtors state go against their code of ethics—and that’s a sign that NYC is a popular real estate market?
I don’t think so. It’s a destination of the financial elite.
A few years ago, I watched an episode of a TV show called “Million Dollar Listing: New York.” It was about a few NYC realtors who sold high end NYC properties. In one episode, the property was a high rise, very expensive multi-unit building in what had been a family neighborhood with many senior citizens who’d lived here forever still living in what had become a social desert - many people sold out to developers and many of those expensive units were bought be investors who did not, and had no plans to, reside there. So yes, they pay rent, taxes, maintenance fees, but many of these buildings have a very low residential occupancy.
