Jackson Heights Life

Are real estate prices in JH going down like in most of the country or are they holding steady?  I know prices in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn are still going up.  I have noticed the amount of coops/condos listed on the Queens Multiple Listing Service has been going up.  There are currently 162 coops/condos for sale.  Typically when inventory increases prices fall because of the law of supply and demand.

http://www.mlsli.com/uniresults.cfm

For NYC area as a whole, on average, according to Case-Shiller/Standard and Poors index, real estate declined 10.15% from the peak of the index which was June 2006, until April 2008.  From April 2007 to April 2008, the index declined 8.21%. 

The index includes all of the NY Metropolitan area, which includes Connecticut, Long Island, Westchester, and New Jersey. 

Seems to me that real estate in JH has held up fairly well, perhaps not declined as much as the averages above.  Also, seems like most of the better apartments have been taken, and either aren't for sale, or are snapped up quickly.  But I don't have the data to prove it, just my non-scientific opinion. 

Real estate brokers would definitely know for sure, but they're all eternal real estate cheerleaders, and would probably tell you that "it's still a good value, prices are holding up" even after a hurricane passed through!

See here:

http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_csmahp/0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0.html

Not only is there a difference between the pre-war and post-wars, there is a difference between buildings that are known by their names and those that aren't.  The ones that go by their names, for example, the Chateaus, Greystones, or Towers, command much higher prices.   In those buildings, you are paying for well-maintained inside gardens and apts with fireplaces, sometimes keyed entry right from the elevator.  I live in a pre-war that has a name, but its name is not a selling point.   When I bought in 2002, the price difference between my current apt and a Chateau apt that I was also looking at was close to $200,000 

No one has mentioned relative maitenance costs.  Generally - the higher the mait the lower the asking.  Depends totally on building finances and how big underlying mortgage is.  With taxes, fuel and union benefit increases mait. it is continuing to go up in most buildings.

Now with the uncertain ecomony, people may not want to purchase and THEN spend all their cash renovation.  I think languising fixer uppers are just caught in cyclical economic turbulance (bid low and scoop 'em up!).  We bought fixer upper 4 years ago and have doubled value in a building with relatively high mait.  Depends on so many things!  We did the math-- if we stay for 7 years and sell we will have lived mait & mortgage free and have a significant down payment, in NYC!  pretty kewl!

I have noticed that people are willing to accept significantly less than ask, fear based I guess.  Realtors have done a decent job at keeping values in line.

Does anyone think that JH is a transitional neighborhood in general?  I think that would be an interesting discussion...may explain so many issues I see on the board....hmmm.....may be able to synthesize discussion on schools, wine bars, pigeons & garbage on THAT thread.

My impression is. after speaking to some realtors, that prices in JH are holding up, or in some buildings, going up--- especially for two bedrooms-two baths..  The prices for one and two family homes is most definitely up.  The house across the street from me went for 986-thousand--- approximately 4 or 5 months ago.  I think that couples who are starting a family desire the larger coops in in JH.  The homes are equally as nice--but many need a lot of fixing up and are already expensive. What's nice about them is that the construction is is all brick--with quality materials--slate roofs, separate garage structure. 

I keep thinking about this - I think that unless the entire NYC market really tanks in a way that no-one expects - that JH will be fine. It wasn't subject to the insane bubble that other neighborhoods have been (a half-million for a 1BR in bushwick? really?) and there hasn't been rampant overbuilding here - so there's not a lot of overpriced, empty units waiting to sell.

I think JH has some natural advantages that will keep it OK even in a slight to moderate downturn, the biggest being that it's the cheapest, nicest, closest real neighborhood to Manhattan. It's got a steady stream of people who want to live in JH, coming not only from Brooklyn and Manhattan, but from all over the world. It's still affordable to buy a decent place for couples who aren't in high-income finance jobs, but on teacher/fireman/bartender/police/receptionist salaries. Brooklyn's got some neighborhoods like that too (Kensington comes to mind) but that's a lot further out from the Midtown core of the city. JH is also really beautiful and has some great housing stock, both in and out of the Historic District. It's got great restaurants and street life - it really does feel like a 24-hour neighborhood (unlike, say, Inwood, which, while similarly priced, can feel desolate).

Of course, I'm just saying this because I'm in contract to buy a place in JH too (Just got the mortgage letter yesterday). But these thoughts keep me sane when I think about a housing downturn. Might prices be lower next year? Maybe. But mortgage rates might be higher, in anticipation of higher inflation rates in the future. And if you're not planning to buy and flip in two years, but are buying a home to live in, then you should be fine.

My two cents, at least.

also when you compare "timing the market" with a real estate investment, I think real estate is usually the winner.

in the last ten years I've lost more in the market but gained on my co-op, even with the ups and downs.  and now that I have a house, too, I expect to double my gains in the next ten years.  And I get the added benefit of LOVING spending time in my apartment and living in Jackson Heights, and my house and being in Conn. on weekends.

You can't say that about a stock.