Publisher Brad Inman kicked off Inman’s inaugural Global Connect conference this morning with a live stream from New York.
Alan Lightfeldt
“This conference today is about where the market is at,” Inman said when welcoming the first guest speaker — Alan Lightfeldt, data scientist at StreetEasy.
“You hear this dark side, and then you hear this ‘everything’s wonderful’ fluffy side,” Inman saids. “What’s going on in New York?”
“Overall, the Manhattan market is on a tear,” Lightfeldt said.
He said that growth is strong throughout the island. The median resale price year-over-year in February was up around 4.4 percent, depending on where you look.
He pointed to the decline in the luxury segment and the lack of growth since it peaked in May of 2015 at $3.2 million.
Inman prodded Lightfeldt about the “new scrutiny” on LLC cash purchases and whether or not it will affect the market.
“What we know about LLC purchasers is that they’re looking for luxury products, they’re looking to park their assets in a safe investment, which Manhattan real estate is universally known to be,” Lightfeldt said.
Lightfeldt doesn’t think LLC purchases will stop, and he said brokers he knows don’t think the regulations will affect the LLC purchase market.
Then Inman threw some areas of New York at Lightfeldt to describe as hot, room temperature, or cold — hot meaning notable growth and demand; room temperature meaning not stagnant, just carrying on; and cold referring to lack of significant growth.
- Upper East Side: Room temperature
- Flatiron Union Square: Hot
- East Village: Hot (mostly because of rentals, demand for affordable units)
- Alphabet City: Hot
- Financial District: Very hot (Lots of new product, still recovering from Sandy)
- Greenwich Village: Room temperature
- West Village: Room temperature
- Soho: Hot
- Tribeca: Hot (Landmarks, new stuff is small and boutique and in high demand)
- Chelsea: Hot
- Hell’s Kitchen: Hot (Referenced upcoming Hudson Yards development, rising tide lifting all boats)
- Billionaire Row: Cold
- Upper Westside: Room temp
- Harlem: Hot
- Williamsburg: Cold (Proposal to shut down L train is causing uncertainty.)
- Brooklyn Heights: Room temp, blue
- Park Slop: Hot
- Bedstuy: Hot
- East New York: Hot
- Clinton Hill: Hot
- Crown Heights: Hot
“I’m a bull in the sense that we’re forecasting 3.2 growth in Manhattan,” Lightfeldt said regarding price growth.
“We are entering a healthy, less-dramatic growth pattern, but we are still hot,” he said before thanking Inman for the opportunity to speak.
