Any New Yorker can tell you that real estate and entertainment are the most talked about topics in Manhattan. Below are some interesting facts about the Manhattan real estate market that you can tell your friends over dinner or drinks: 2008 Records & Benchmarks • A report from PropertyShark.com said foreclosure auctions increased 184 percent on Staten Island and 150 percent on Queens between January and February. • In the first three months of the year, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel's first-quarter market report for Prudential Douglas Elliman, the median sales price in Manhattan was a record $945,276; the average price per square foot was a record $1,289; and the average sales price was a record $1,722,991. • In May, a group led by Mortimer Zuckerman's Boston Properties announced that it would buy the GM Building from the Macklowes for $2.9 billion, the highest price ever paid for an American office tower. • The most expensive condo sale ever in Brooklyn occurred in May, when a penthouse at Dumbo's Clock Tower building sold for $7 million. • In June, the Rent Guidelines Board authorized increases on rent-stabilized apartments of up to 4.5 percent on one-year leases and 8.5 percent on two-year leases, the biggest increase since 1989. • In June, Ikea opened in Red Hook, Brooklyn. At 346,000 square feet, it is the largest big-box store in New York City, according to a report by WNYC. • According to Miller Samuel's second-quarter market report for Prudential Douglas Elliman, in April, May and June, the median sales price in Manhattan was a record $1,025,000 and the median sales price of a Manhattan co-op was a record $755,000. • In July, Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller housing index reported a record 15.8 percent year-over-year drop for the 20 metropolitan areas it tracks. The index, which does not include condos and co-ops, lodged a 7.9 percent year-over-year drop for the New York metro area. • The most expensive co-op sale ever in Manhattan closed in July, when Jonathan Tisch, the chairman and chief executive of Loews Hotels, paid $48 million for a 14-room unit at 2 East 67th Street. • Only three new building permit applications were filed for Manhattan construction projects in September 2008, the lowest number since September 2001. • In September, the Mortgage Bankers Association released a report saying that nationwide, 9.16 percent of mortgages for one- to four-bedroom homes were at least a month late in payment or in some stage of foreclosure during the second quarter of the year, the highest percentage of overdue loans since the MBA began tracking the statistic 39 years ago. • On Sept. 29, the Dow fell 777.68 points, the largest one-day drop in history. • Cushman & Wakefield executives said in October that commercial leasing activity in Manhattan was at a five-year low. • In October, the New York Building Congress estimated that New York City construction spending would set a record of $33.8 billion in 2008, although the trade organization expected to see declines in 2009 and beyond. • Brooklyn Heights saw the sale of its most expensive home ever in October when the sale of a $10.8 million house was recorded in city records. • A $5.145 million duplex sale at the Edge recorded in October was the most expensive condo ever sold in Williamsburg. • The U.S. consumer confidence index fell to 38 in October, its lowest level in 40 years, from 61.4 the month before, according to a survey by the nonprofit Conference Board. • The projected cost of the new Yankee Stadium is expected to be more than $1.7 billion, making it the most expensive ballpark in the United States, according to a New York Times article published in November. • The city's Department of Buildings reported 19 construction-related fatalities through the end of October in 2008, far surpassing the same 10-month period in 2007, when 8 deaths occurred, and all of the previous year, when 12 deaths were recorded. • The Department of Buildings issued 72 initial demolition permits in November, 65 percent fewer than the 205 issued the same month a year ago, and a steep decline from the 164 issued in October. The number of demolition permits had risen from 3,386 in 2002 to a high of 6,480 in 2006. The number fell in 2007 to 5,582, and there had only been 2,112 permits issued in 2008 as of the end of November, according to an analysis by The Real Deal. • In November, the 46-story Trump Soho hotel-condo topped off, making it the tallest building in the neighborhood. • In December, the New York Times said financier Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scam might be the largest such fraud in history. Many of the city's biggest real estate players had money invested with him. Record Breakers from Previous Years: Biggest deal: Tishman Speyer pays $5.4 billion for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. Priciest single office building sale: $1.8 billion for 666 Fifth Avenue. Most expensive residential sale: $53 million for Harkness Mansion, a 50-foot-wide townhouse at 4 East 75th Street. Record price per room in a hotel sale: $1.4 million per room. Record average price per square foot for a Manhattan apartment: $1,083. Record average sale price for a Manhattan apartment: $1.4 million. Record median sales price for a Manhattan apartment: $880,000. Tallest condos by neighborhood: New height records in Chelsea, Soho, Lower Manhattan, Lower East Side and the Upper West Side. Most expensive parking spaces: Midtown, with a median price of $574.12 per month including taxes. Biggest leveraged buyout: Blackstone Group offers $36 billion for Equity Office Properties. Record office rent: $175 a square foot in the General Motors Building and Solow Building. Additional Facts: The most expensive zip code in New York City is 10007. The apartment inventory in New York City is following the same seasonal pattern as it has since 2001. The average cost for a two-bedroom rental is $3,200 a month. Total population in New York City is 8,000,000 people. There are roughly 2,000,000 rental units and 925,000 owner units. The Bronx, which has roughly a million more people than Staten Island, has roughly the same number of owner-occupied units at 102,000 and 103,000, respectively. There are 1,000,000 rent-stabilized apartments and 59,000 rent-controlled apartments in New York City. There are roughly 30,000 real estate sales agents and brokers in New York City. The biggest developer in New York City is The Related Companies. There are about 20,000 condos units that were planned for development in Manhattan for 2006. The total number of units planned for all the boroughs is 32,191. The largest office landlord in NYC is Tishman Speyer with 40.5 million square feet of space, with almost half in Manhattan. World Trade Center site leaseholder Larry Sivlerstein owns 8,000,000 square feet. Manhattan's biggest office tenant is Citigroup with 5,000,000 square feet. The top office lease for New York City was Morgan Stanley, leasing close to 500,000 square feet from Wachovia. Average asking rent in Manhattan for office space, depending on the neighborhood, ranged from $28 to $60 a foot. McDonalds is the largest retailer in the city, with 284 stores. These facts were all compiled by The Real Deal and are based on NYC real estate. |