From the Federal Reserve:
The Beige Book – Second District – New York
Construction and Real Estate
Commercial real estate markets in the District were steady to somewhat softer since the last report. Manhattan’s office vacancy rate rose moderately in July and August, while asking rents continued to decline–rents on Class A properties are down roughly 20 percent from a year earlier, and that does not include increased concessions by landlords. Elsewhere in the District, however, office markets have generally been stable: vacancy rates rose modestly in Long Island, northern New Jersey and metropolitan Syracuse but edged down in Westchester and Fairfield Counties and in the Rochester area; vacancy rates held steady in the Albany and Buffalo areas. Asking rents on Class A properties are down modestly over the past year across most of the District. Industrial markets have been mixed but mostly steady.
The housing market has shown scattered signs of a pickup in parts of the District, though conditions have continued to weaken in New York City. A New Jersey contact notes signs of a mild pickup at the lower end of the resale market–helped by the homebuyer tax credit–but maintains that sales and starts of new homes remain flat at low levels. Prices are said to have firmed slightly in New Jersey’s resale market, though they remain substantially lower than a year ago. Similarly, Realtors across New York State report that prices rose in July but are running well below comparable 2008 levels.
In contrast, New York City’s multi-family market has continued to weaken. Manhattan co-op and condo prices have reportedly continued to fall in the current quarter. However, transactions activity, which had been exceptionally sluggish in the second quarter, has reportedly picked up in the current quarter, except at the high end of the market, where activity has evidently been constrained by tight credit. Prices of newly-constructed condominiums, which are mostly at the high end of the market, have been discounted steeply, reflecting a large inventory. The apartment rental market has also continued to deteriorate, especially at the high end: overall, asking rents are reported to be down 6 to 10 percent from a year earlier in August; moreover, landlords are typically waiving commissions and offering concessions, such as 1-2 months free rent.
FOIST!
BTW – I just closed my Bank of America account that I had for 10 years. It started as a BankBoston account and was passed down. I feel liberated. These guys were just so shameless in the amount of soliciting to which they subjected their customers. Then the fees they attempted to extract….
clot: Maybe you can host a njrereport autumn gourmet classic with NJCOAST?
Event details: WLIW21 Autumn Gourmet Classic
Description
Experience some of your favorite public television chefs LIVE at the WLIW21 Autumn Gourmet Classic. Lidia Bastianich (Lidia’s Italy), Jacques Pépin, John Barricelli (Everyday Baking from Everyday Food), and other chefs will team up for an intimate evening of food, wine and culinary theater. Guests will take a photo with Lidia, see food demos from Jacques and John, taste food from the New York metro area’s best restaurants, and sample wines from all over the world. Tickets benefit New York metro-area public television station WLIW21.
For tickets and additional information, visit wliw.org or call 800.767.2121.
Cost
$250
We will get grim to recruit Giada……
[2] chifi
Welcome back to the light! I recently severed my last tie with BofA, and told them goodbye and good riddance.
Also my old boss is a deputy GC there, and I could not stand her. So BofA gets no Nom dough, ever.
I am still scratching my head over this one:
“LANSING, Mich.—Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) has proposed phasing out the 22 percent surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax over three years, while increasing taxes on cigarettes, live entertainment, and other items . . . .
Granholm would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes to $2.25 from $2; levy a penny-per-bottle tax on bottled water sold in Michigan; and extend the state’s 6 percent sales tax to vending machine sales, service contracts, and live entertainment. . . .”
Sooooo, she lowers taxes on the only businesses still left in Michigan, and for the chain-smoking, Frito-eating, strip club visiting, out of work auto workers that voted for her, she taxes their smokes, their chips, and their stiffies.
Nom 6 – Are there really still businesses left in MI?
Everyone think some collective good thoughts for Bklynhawk and me. Gawker says something is going down tomorrow.
http://gawker.com/5355954/what-will-the-morning-bring-for-conde-nast
White House: We didn’t know things were so bad…
Gimme a break!
http://www.investorsinsight.com/blogs/forecasts_trends/archive/2009/09/08/on-the-economy-amp-obama-s-trillions.aspx
chi (3)-
All I need is a card table, a case of Knob Creek and some tumblers.
chi (4)-
Nah. Prefer Nigella to Giada.
Nigella’s a dirty little girl.
plume (6)-
Two uses for Michigan:
1. gift to Canada
2. penal colony
“Drop of 30 to 40% from peak pricing 2006. Inflation not a concern at this point as we need to get through the delfationary period”
LTLV,
we’re splitting hairs here. Im at 30%, you are at 30-40%.
I can see deflation/low inflation lasting another year too.
gator (7)-
If they can you, I’ll never buy another Conde Nast publication again.
Ruth Reichl has turned Gourmet into a suckass rag, anyway.
Time for the Congressional drinking game – take a swig after each standing ovation.
Freakin’ dog and pony show by sycophants.
” she taxes their smokes, their chips, and their stiffies”
Makes perfect sense. Businesses will flee taxes but people will not skip their ” smokes,chips, or their stiffies.” Heck, if they put a $10 per pill tax on vi@g ra and similar medications, guys would still pay; what guy in their right mind would let $10 stand between them and 0rg@sm?
Mikey, on a roll:
Obama wants the Banksters to modify mortgages. What he does not understand is . . .
1 – Banksters can’t modify most of the mortgages they own, because their is not enough equity.
2 – Banksters can’t modify any of the mortgages they service because they have no ownership rights in these.
3 – Banksters can’t modify any of the mortgages they initiated and then sold in sliced and diced mortgage pools, because they sold these pools of mortgages based on a specific return.
4 – Banksters can’t modify most of the mortgages they own, service or have sold because so many homeowners have lost their jobs, that they cannot afford any mortgage payments.
5 – Banksters can’t modify most of the mortgages they own because if they did, they would have to mark these mortgages down, and that would put some banks out of business.
http://realestateandhousing2.blogspot.com/2009/09/mortgage-related-lawsuits-spiking.html
Gator,
Good luck tomorrow. If you get cut, I suggest that you and Stu go out for a high-quality dinner celebrating being set free. Better to start off the job search on a positive note than in feeling shell shocked or down.
Now the Maestro agrees with me. Oh sheet, time to sell and fold? Oops, forgot, rule of law has been abandoned, there is zero confidence in our community leader/govt and money is flowing out of the old economy. Is AG on to something?
“The gains are “strictly a monetary phenomenon,” Greenspan said today at an investment conference in New York. Rising prices of precious metals and other commodities are “an indication of a very early stage of an endeavor to move away from paper currencies,” he said.”
“What is fascinating is the extent to which gold still holds reign over the financial system as the ultimate source of payment,” Greenspan said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=acrGvxBXPDfk
ChiFi-
My daughter is one of the speakers at the Gourmet Institute event October 23-25th. Her seminar is on Sunday at Murray’s Cheese on Bleeker St. NYC.
For more info go to:
http://www.gourmetinstitute.com/
veto,
If inflation occurs as a result of zero confidence, it will raise the prices of some sectors, not others. Housing requires wage inflation. At this time, there is zero chance of that occuring. Real inflation is a currency event not a monetary event. What is the net result if the architect’s obliterate the dollar while there is no/negative change in employment? The cost of goods/services will increase while RE will have nil effect.
Stop trying to play the inflation, deflation debate while trying to time your purchase. This is a consumption play, not an investment. Buy what you can afford and realize that you will be sitting on your couch for at least 10 years. In addition to this, be prepared for an additional 20% decline. Nothing revolutionary about this. The surprise is not where we are going. The surprise is where we have gone.
Just walking away…we ain’t gonna pay..no effing way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/business/09loans.html?_r=1&em
GTG?
20.NJCoast says:
September 9, 2009 at 8:40 pm
ChiFi- My daughter is one of the speakers at the Gourmet Institute event October 23-25th. Her seminar is on Sunday at Murray’s Cheese on Bleeker St. NYC. For more info go to:
http://www.gourmetinstitute.com/
*21 Thank You.
Whoa…
http://www.gourmetinstitute.com/chefs.asp
20.NJCoast says:
September 9, 2009 at 8:40 pm
ChiFi- My daughter is one of the speakers at the Gourmet Institute event October 23-25th. Her seminar is on Sunday at Murray’s Cheese on Bleeker St. NYC.
Coast: of course a Cornellian! and a big FU to anyone who has an issue with it….
clot: on this list, who is good and who is a clown….restriction: not all of them can be placed in the clown category
25.chicagofinance says:
September 9, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Whoa…
http://www.gourmetinstitute.com/chefs.asp
Can someone help me with this MLS #: 90003275
I can’t seem to find it on njmls.com or gsmls.com
It is in Weehawken, NJ.
The address is 65 Bonn Street. Any insight on the property would be appreciated too. Thanks!
One of the triggers of the coming Schumpeterian depression will be a big, stupid, protectionist trade war. Remember all the good stuff that came out of Smoot-Hawley? Just ask Mish:
“If the US is dumb enough (and we might be) to impose a 55% tariff on Chinese tires, the first thing US manufacturers might do is jack up prices. Unlike what the union clowns think, the result would be fewer cars and tires sold. Moreover, China’s reaction might be to buy fewer US planes. Finally, there would be fewer jobs at the docks loading and unloading stuff.
Union clowns never look at the seen and unseen for their ridiculous proposals. In aggregate it is clear (at least it should be clear) that trade wars cost jobs.”
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/09/us-fires-opening-salvo-in-trade-wars.html
LTLV, please dont act like BC stole your words.
He reiterated that nominal home prices would stay flat in the event of dollar weakness inflation.
You argued against this concept tooth-and-nail when i said it… but now you are in total agreement.
Can someone help me with this MLS #: 90003275
I can’t seem to find it on njmls.com or gsmls.com
It is in Weehawken, NJ.
The address is 65 Bonn Street. Any insight on the property would be appreciated too. Thanks!
chi (27)-
Clowns:
Danny Abrams
Andrea Albin
Michael Anderson
Troy Arcand
Paul Bartolotta
April Bloomfield
Cesare Casella
Belinda Chang
Kay Chun
Taylor Cocalis
Ruth Cousineau
Pete Daversa
Jennifer Day
Karen DeMasco
Gina DePalma
Michael Green
Paul Grimes
Peter Hoffman
James Horn
Sean Josephs
Allen Katz
Rob Kaufelt
Tia Keenan
Ian Knauer
David Lombardo
Kemp Minifie
Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez
Florent Morellet
Sara Moulton
Michael Nelson
Garrett Oliver
Charlie Palmer
Charlie Pinsky
Michael Psilakis
Ruth Reichl
Melissa Roberts
Maggie Ruggerio
Jordan Salcito
Marcus Samuelsson
Jane & Michael Stern
Marc Stroobandt
Karen Tack
Liz Thorpe
Alexis Touchet
Michael Tsoumpas
Romulo Yanes
Andrew Carmellini is the best working cook of that whole bunch. Some of the celeb chefs used to be better cooks but lost their chops from never getting in front of a stove.
Additional clown (for unrelated reason):
Addison Graves “Jackass” Wilson
Anyone on the “clown” list who is a journalist, photographer, food stylist or celeb chef sycophant should be executed.
Ruth Reichl should be waterboarded by Mr. Wilson.
“Clowns:”
I’d add Colin Powell and Oliver North.
SAS
Have Property taxes in Weehawken been reduced in the past year or so?
Can someone help me with this MLS #: 90003275
I can’t seem to find it on njmls.com or gsmls.com
It is in Weehawken, NJ.
The address is 65 Bonn Street. Any insight on the property would be appreciated too. Also looking for any information on the recent property taxes. Thanks!
This minyanville piece refers to a poster named ‘BC’ discussing Japan’s deflationary debt-deleveraging
and also uses Clots favorite word… Schumpterian
The Fed’s Creative Self-Destruction
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/economy-fed-fdic/index/a/24261/p/2
Gator,
Good luck tomorrow.