The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Home price growth hits 15-year high

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 03:15 PM PDT

Home prices continue to skyrocket as low levels of inventory begin to depress the number of sales. CoreLogic Home Price Index, which tracks national home prices, showed prices were 10.4 percent higher in February than they were a year earlier. It was the largest increase since April 2006. No state reported an annual decline in home prices, while the largest gains were Idaho’s 22.6 percent, Montana’s 19.5 percent and South Dakota’s 17.1 percent. Bidding wars

Woman killed during eviction at Miami rental tower

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 03:10 PM PDT

Miami-Dade Police shot and killed a woman they were trying to evict in a Brickell high-rise, after she opened fire on officers Tuesday afternoon. Police were serving the eviction papers at Brickell First, a rental tower at 110 Southwest 12th Street in Miami, the Miami Herald reported. Residential evictions for cases filed prior to the pandemic resumed in November, and landlords have challenged Miami-Dade County’s moratorium on executing residential writs of possession filed during the

Landlord imposter pocketed $1.5M in rental assistance: Authorities

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 02:12 PM PDT

The scam went on for years, authorities said. Posing as a landlord with 20 properties around New York City, Paul Fishbein allegedly rented out apartments to homeless and low-income families, then collected the money through various government-run housing assistance programs. After the subsidy checks were received, he would evict the tenants and start over. On Tuesday, federal authorities charged the Far Rockaway resident with defrauding the government. He allegedly pocketed more than $1.5 million in

These US real estate titans made Forbes’ 2021 billionaires list

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 02:00 PM PDT

The world minted new billionaires at a rate of one every 17 hours in 2020 — and some of those came from the real estate industry. Zillow co-founders Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, eXp World Holdings founder Glenn Sanford and his wife Penny, and Florida home-builder Patrick Zalupski were among the real estate industry’s newest entrants into the ranks of the uber wealthy, according to the latest edition of Forbes’ annual list of the world’s

NY close to approving $2.4B rent relief bill — but its rollout will be the real test

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 01:30 PM PDT

Landlord and tenant groups say the state’s plan for disbursing more than $2 billion in rent relief is a step in the right direction, though both have concerns about its rollout. The plan, spelled out in a newly printed bill, would bar evictions and rent increases for one year in cases where landlords accept aid. Both property owners and tenants can apply, but the program does not mandate that landlords accept the money — a

Critics look down on shorter 250 Water Street

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 01:20 PM PDT

Howard Hughes Corporation returned to the Landmarks Preservation Commission Tuesday with a shorter, less bulky design for a mixed-use tower at 250 Water Street. But the reviews from community members and civic leaders were the same as to the developer’s first plan, which was summarily dismissed by the commission as out of scale with the South Street Seaport historic district. The revised proposal eschews the initial two-tower design atop a podium structure for four interlocking

NYC startup nabs $50M to expand Wi-Fi connectivity

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 12:45 PM PDT

Haven’t had internet issues this year? Lucky you. For those who have been plagued by problems, a New York City startup focused on large-scale connectivity in commercial and residential buildings hopes to provide a solution. Gigstreem, founded in 2017, just raised $50 million from Crestline Investors, bringing its total funding to $75 million. The company offers “ubiquitous Wi-Fi,” meaning each building operates as its own network (with private accounts for individuals) instead of having dozens

Big Short investor buys $25M Miami Beach spec mansion

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 12:00 PM PDT

Don Mullen, the former Goldman Sachs executive who bet against the U.S. housing market in what became called “the big short,” scooped up a waterfront Miami Beach mansion, The Real Deal has learned. Mullen is the buyer of a Sunset Islands spec home that sold last week for $24.8 million, sources told TRD. The entity that owns the house traded, rather than a deed for the home. Developer James Curnin sold the seven-bedroom, eight-and-a-half-bathroom home

Brooklyn’s luxury market cooled last week

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 11:15 AM PDT

Most of the luxury Brooklyn homes that went into contract last week had languished on the market for months, but there was one notable exception. A 1,500-square-foot condo at 1 Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights was available for just 15 days before it went into contract last week. That’s well below the average of 223 days. Its last asking price was $2.7 million, or $1,800 per square foot. A 3,495-square-foot townhouse at 177 Madison

New York legislator proposes “tenant union” to fight evictions

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 09:15 AM PDT

A Manhattan state senator wants renters to band together to increase their leverage with landlords when the eviction moratorium ends. Sen. Brad Hoylman proposed a new measure for the Manhattan borough president’s office to organize tenants to work out deals with landlords, according to the New York Daily News. The federal eviction moratorium ends in June and the state moratorium expires May 1. Hoylman anticipates a “nightmare scenario where money judgments are levied against tenants.”

Foreclosures and evictions could be halted for rest of 2021

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 08:45 AM PDT

An onslaught of home foreclosures and evictions could be forestalled for another year. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking at restrictions on mortgage servicers that would prevent struggling homeowners from going straight into foreclosure. The agency has proposed a measure to stop mortgage servicers from proceeding with foreclosures until after Dec. 31, according to the New York Times. The idea is to give borrowers more time to get a mortgage modification that reduces their

Woolworth Building’s $79M “pinnacle” returns in challenging market

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 08:00 AM PDT

Since 2015, the trophy penthouse atop the Woolworth Building has quietly waited for the right buyer to come along. It’s gotten one substantial discount — from $110 million to $79 million — and recently re-listed at that eye-popping price tag late last month. But in the pandemic-hammered luxury real estate market, one might wonder: Is there a taker out there for this apartment? The 9,680-square-foot penthouse — dubbed “The Pinnacle” — occupies the top five

Office landlords offer discounts to lock in leases

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 07:37 AM PDT

Office landlords in New York, Chicago and San Francisco could be taking a hit in the next few years even if some companies lock in long-term leases. More companies are keeping their offices, but are downsizing those spaces to allow employees to work remotely part-time, according to data from VTS, first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The analysis shows that landlords are giving tenants discounts of up to 13 percent compared to rents in

Redfin finalizes $608M RentPath acquisition

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 06:36 AM PDT

It’s official: Redfin has finalized its purchase of RentPath for $608 million in cash, expanding the brokerage’s presence in the rental market. The acquisition gives Redfin control of RentPath’s subsidiaries, including Apartment Guide, Rentals.com and Rents.com, Inman reported. Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said that listings from those platforms will appear on the brokerage’s website by 2022, according to the report. The deal closed in 42 days rather than the anticipated 90. “[W]e can’t wait to

“Ouch”: Real estate sounds off on state’s $4.3B tax hike

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 06:09 AM PDT

People will always want to live and work in New York … until they don’t. And some real estate professionals and economists fear that $4.3 billion in tax increases, on top of the shift to remote work, might just push some over the edge. The state budget, now in the final stages of negotiations, is expected to include tax increases through 2027 on the personal income of New York’s highest earners and on corporate income.

Brookfield snags $2B refi for massive mobile home portfolio

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 05:00 AM PDT

An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management snagged a $2.2 billion refinancing on its portfolio of 124 mobile home communities and RV sites across the U.S. The portfolio consists of 29,000 mobile homes — also known as manufactured housing — and 771 RV sites across 13 states, according to a report from Kroll Bond Ratings Agency. The two largest assets are Pine Lakes Ranch and Redwood Estates in Thorton, Colorado, which make up nearly 10 percent

For Compass agents who invested, IPO is watershed moment

Posted: 06 Apr 2021 04:00 AM PDT

For Compass agents invested in the firm’s success, nothing can rain on their parade. Last week, Compass’s initial public offering raised $450 million. Though the company had at one time hoped to raise more than twice as much, Compass founders and top executives now have stock holdings worth millions on paper. But many of the rank and file also have skin in the game. The effect, particularly for agents who’ve been at the firm five