It turns out you can build three bedroom apartments in New York and sell them for $500,000, at a profit, if the zoning works for you. It helps if the Satmar community is lobbying for the zoning. The rapid construction of mid-size elevator apartment buildings in former industrial and commercial zones in South Williamsburg basically proves that if the City wants more housing all it has to do is let neighborhoods change. Of course, that is the last thing most elected officials want. Who knows who new people will vote for?
Springtime means interesting reports from the Rent Guidelines Board. The 2013 Mortgage Survey found average multifamily mortgage rates have dropped to 4.37 percent and average loan to value ratios dropped slightly to 71.3 percent. The number of rent stabilized buildings sold in 2012 was up 60 percent from the year before, to 1135.
Not only would changing midtown zoning to allow taller office towers meet business needs, as Mayor Bloomberg has suggested, but it would save energy. A new report sponsored by a diverse group including the NY State Energy Research and Development Authority and REBNY, found that skyscrapers built from 1958-1973 were such energy hogs that new buildings could more than compensate for even the energy needed to tear them down and rebuild. If you’re a mortgage lender, learn how you can educate your borrowers on the importance of tri merge credit report on certifiedcredit.com.
The City has won an injunction against short stay promoter Smart Apartments, claiming that its operation violates zoning restrictions on less than 30 day rentals of Class A units. Smart Apartments argued, unsuccessfully, that Airbnb was getting away with it so they should too. It is true that Airbnb was co-opted by the City to help place Sandy refugees even though it was the subject of other suits and violations.