Last month, the median rental price in Manhattan by 4% compared to March, the first dip in five months, according to new data from Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Miller Samuel. Those deals, as well the city’s continued reopening, helped push the number of new leases in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens to record highs.
“There’s still such a high amount of inventory, and tenants know that,” says Hal Gavzie, executive director of leasing at Douglass Elliman. “[They’re] looking at neighborhoods that pre-Covid they could not afford.”
Areas like Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, and the West Village in Manhattan, are particularly hot, with demand so high for some units that landlords are asking prospective renters to submit their best and final offers above the advertised rent price—akin to what would be expected in a competitive market for home buyers. Still, the median rental price in Manhattan is down 18.5% compared to a year ago, while Brooklyn is down 16.2% and Queens 13.1%, the report said.
The best deals in Manhattan are on big spaces—apartments with three or more bedrooms—presumably because Covid-19 has caused tenants to seek fewer roommates. The median rental price for such units is down 24.4% to $5,000 in the past year, while smaller apartments have dropped between about 15% to 20%.
Such declines have spurred a rush of signings, as tenants seek to lock in deals while they still can. Across apartment sizes, new signings in Manhattan soared more than fivefold compared to a year ago. The median apartment rented for $2,791 in April, net of concessions like one month or more of free rent, compared with $3,540 in April 2020.
A similar story is playing out in Brooklyn and Queens, though median prices ticked up month over month, by 0.1% and 3.4%, respectively. In Brooklyn, all apartment sizes are renting at a median discount of at least 18% compared to a year ago, with the biggest discounts on those with two or more bedrooms. Luxury buildings have dropped less. In Queens, where there are comparatively fewer transactions, the median rental price in April was $2,370, a 15.7% annual decline.
Prices could normalize closer to pre-Covid levels in 24 months, Gavzie thinks, but much depends on how quickly the city’s commercial market rebounds. The pandemic has caused office vacancies in Manhattan to hit record levels, and as companies formulate their long-term work-from-home policies, it is not clear when—if ever—office workers will return in their old numbers. The longer that rebound takes, the harder hit many retail and residential landlords will be.
Still, beyond the bidding wars in the city’s ritziest rental enclaves, there are signs that the worst has passed. Public transportation is more crowded, and some owners are beginning to once again charge broker fees to tenants, the much-reviled surcharges that are a sign of landlord strength. “I think that we’re still a long ways away,” Gavzie says. But “these are all positive signs.”
A brief drop in mortgage interest rates sent some borrowers rushing to their lenders to see if they could get any savings. That sent total mortgage application volume up 2.1% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) decreased to 3.11% from 3.18%, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.34 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That is the lowest rate since February, and it is 32 basis points lower than one year ago.
As a result, applications to refinance a home loan, which have been weak lately, increased 3% from the previous week but were still 12% lower than a year ago, according to the MBA’s seasonally adjusted index. The refinance share of mortgage activity was essentially unchanged.
“The decline in rates helped the refinance index reach its highest level in eight weeks, driven by a 4 percent increase in conventional refinances,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “Additionally, refinance loan balances increased for the fourth straight week, an indication that higher-balance borrowers acted to take quick advantage of lower rates.”
Mortgage demand from homebuyers rose just 1% for the week and was 13% higher than a year ago. The annual comparison has been skewed for several weeks, since the housing market ground to a halt at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and then came back strongly by June. It will be more important to watch that comparison over the coming weeks to see how it adjusts.
“Most markets this spring continue to see robust demand, but activity continues to be constrained by insufficient inventory levels, as well as homebuilder challenges related to the ongoing shortages and price increases for building materials,” Kan added.
Mortgage rates are already popping back up this week, especially Tuesday, because of a surge in the supply of bonds being offered, especially Treasury and corporate bonds.
“While neither of these are the same bonds that most directly influence mortgage rates, they are correlated and interdependent enough that mortgage rates ultimately feel the ill effects of increased supply,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.
Some buyers still prefer new builds over bidding wars for existing homes
More than a quarter of single-family homes for sale during the first quarter were new-construction homes — nearly 26%, and March housing starts jumped nearly 20% month over month to the highest level since 2006, per the latest report from Redfin.
Although housing starts are rising, lumber prices have skyrocketed in the past 12 months, causing the average price of a new single-family home to increase by $35,872, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
But if you can afford it, notes Redfin Agent Melanie Miller, building a new home is still the preferred route to take for many versus entering the shark-infested waters of the current housing market. Existing home sales were 9% higher than a year ago with just two months supply to choose from. A healthy housing market is considered roughly six months of supply.
“New construction has typically been a good option for buyers who don’t want to deal with bidding wars because builders don’t usually set deadlines for offers,” Miller said. “Buyers also like that they can often buy a new home for what it’s actually listed for rather than having to offer way over the asking price to win.”
However, the U.S. housing shortage has grown so severe that some newly built homes now have waitlists that are 90 buyers deep, said Ryan Aycock, Redfin’s Salt Lake City market manager.
“Some builders are even canceling contracts with buyers who refuse to accept price increases,” Aycock said,
Low mortgage rates have kept buyers engaged, even with high home prices. Rates recently fell below 3%, and are nearly 30 basis points lower than they were a year ago.
“Only higher rates will result in more days on the market and thus larger inventory,” said Logan Mohtashami, HousingWire’s lead analyst. “We need these two things in order for buyers to have more choices and more reasonable price growth. Again, the question remains if rates will get high enough to have this effect on the market before more price damage is done. Right now home prices aren’t high enough to impact demand in a major way.”
The country has also experienced an exodus of movers from bigger metros into “secondary cities,” as work-from-home mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed workers to live anywhere. Cities with cheaper homes — and larger lots — became popular, and the amount of new housing starts quickly rose in smaller cities like Pueblo, Colorado, and Elgin, Illinois.
In Elgin, single-family permits climbed 68.3% — the biggest jump of all metros studied by Redfin. Elgin was followed by Tacoma, Washington (up 58.9%), Bridgeport, Connecticut (up 57.9%), Minneapolis (up 57.5%), and Albany, New York (up 57%).
The largest drop in housing starts was in Newark, where permits fell 22% from a year earlier in the first quarter. Next came Allentown, Pennsylvania (down 19.6%), Virginia Beach, Virginia (down 10.5%), San Diego (down 9.2%) and Camden, New Jersey (down 5.6%). When broken down by region, the West had the lowest share of newly built homes as a portion of total single-family homes for sale, at just 8.4%. It was followed by the Northeast (11.4%), the Midwest (15.4%) and the South (25.8%).
Redfin Chief Economist Taylor Marr said California metros are showing the least amount of new housing starts, in part because those cities tend to have less vacant land available and less space zoned for housing development. In Fresno, California, just 2.4% of single-family homes for sale in the first quarter were newly built — the smallest share of the 82 metros in Redfin’s analysis. Fresno was followed by Oakland (2.9%), Bakersfield (3.2%), and Riverside (3.4%).
But new builds are still an option for many throughout the country, Marr said.
“Building homes has become more attractive and profitable during the pandemic due to record-low mortgage rates and red-hot homebuyer demand,” Marr said. “At the same time, many homeowners have opted to stay put and refinance or remodel their existing homes instead of selling them, allowing new-construction homes to take up a larger portion of the market.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown many people the importance of being ready for the worst. Landlords have been negotiating with struggling tenants to create rent relief plans. The federal government has placed moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures. The pandemic (and the legislative response) has left both owners and tenants wondering if their contracts are still binding.
While the COVID-19 vaccine is rolling out, you, as a landlord and real estate investor, are probably worried about maintaining your properties and paying your mortgage. Meanwhile, unemployment numbers are at record highs; your tenants are worried about their own financial futures and may be unable to pay rent.
It is important to know that complaints of nonpayment may be exaggerated—the National Multifamily Housing Council found that 93.5% of renters paid February 2021 rent in full.
In the months to come, some real estate sectors, including hospitality and apartment REITs, could experience strong demand. The outlook for other sectors is mixed.
How can you as a landlord balance your own financial needs with your tenants’ to give both of you a way through challenging circumstances?
How prepared is your business for when things head south?
Challenges property owners are facing
There are three significant problems that you are likely to experience as a landlord during a recession.
It becomes more difficult to collect rent.
Old tenants might want to vacate.
It is more difficult to find new tenants.
These problems will continue to dog landlords struggling to recover their footing after the pandemic.
As a landlord, the best way you can prepare for a market downturn is to have policies and processes ready to implement and clearly communicated to your tenants. This gives you a legal and financial grounding in the event of economic recession or downturns in specific markets. Additionally, your tenants will know their options ahead of time.
Types of rent relief plans
One of the possible processes is to have a rent modification arrangement on standby. You can also create plans to handle garbage, water, and any other bills when rent is no longer as reliable.
One of the common incidents you are most likely going to experience during a long recession is your tenants requesting rent relief. There are several strategies to approach this as a landlord.
These include:
Rent deferral. In a rent deferral, you can choose to defer a tenant’s rent until a later time. Based on your agreement with the tenant, the deferred rent can be paid in smaller installments or in a single bulk payment. Another approach to this is to create a cap on operating expenses over a set period.
Rent reduction. You can also choose to reduce a tenant’s rent for all or some part of the total amount of time they have left on their lease. This reduction can be on either the base rent or the operating expenses.
Loan conversion. This is converting the past due rent of a tenant into a repayable loan over a longer set period. Loan conversion is evidenced by a promissory note cross-defaulted with the tenant’s lease.
Rent abatement. This is another strategy used if the client is due on several past payments. In rent abatement, you can choose to simply forgive some or all of the delinquent rent.
Regardless of the approach, you choose in handling rent relief, it is important to look out for the tax implications. Apart from this, you should also perform due diligence. Check out recent and previous financial records of the tenant to ensure you do not leave out any loopholes in the process.
Why is rent relief important?
As much as possible, you should try to find a workable package. It is important to be understanding and retain good tenants using any of the strategies listed above.
Generally, tenants found defaulting are not considered for most relief considerations. However, the circumstances of the recession might not make this workable, as most tenants are already in or would soon be in default when requesting rent relief. Document everything, and clearly spell out all details of any arrangement you and your tenants make.
The effects of a recession can be severe for everyone. If tenants are no longer able to keep up with their rent, making your maintenance and mortgage payments can become difficult. This is why it is often advised to have a contingency plan to pay these bills. With the proper preparation, flexibility, and good tenant communication, you can come out of recession stronger as a landlord.
The Mercer County town has long attracted affluent professionals who take on long commutes in return for the charming setting and top-rated schools.
After living in Manhattan for 25 years, Donna Fay decided to create a new kind of life in 2019, in Princeton, N.J.
Ms. Fay, a licensed aesthetician who advises people on how to look their best “from the clavicle up,” moved with her baby son from the Upper East Side into a house with parts dating from the early 1700s. The property, which sits on the edge of Mercer County, 10 minutes from the center of town, included a carriage house, a cottage, a tennis court, a pool, and a paved courtyard. And while some might have been daunted by the upkeep of its almost eight acres, Ms. Fay, 49, said she was born on a farm and had “no problems getting on a lawn tractor and cutting grass.”
She went so far as to credit others’ maintenance phobias for the bargain she got. (Public records indicate that the sale price was $2.1 million and that, at one point, the property was listed for $4.5 million.) “People nowadays don’t want so much acreage,” she said.
Well, that was then. After a year of lockdown, one imagines many would be happy to follow her on the back of a lawn tractor. But the number of available properties of any size in Princeton has plummeted. As of April 19, only 73 homes were on the market, of which 17 were listed for less than $1 million, said Martha Stockton, a second-generation real estate agent who descends from one of the town’s founding families. “There are usually an average of 125 listings this time of year,” Ms. Stockton said
Princeton packs many charms into its 18.4 square miles. Halfway between New York and Philadelphia, it has long attracted affluent professionals, many enduring commutes of more than an hour in return for roomy, historic houses, old-growth trees that burst into flower in spring and the cultural riches of Princeton University.
“Princeton is like Kyoto in the spring,” said Sheldon Sturges, a local activist who has lived there since the 1960s. “There are blooms on every kind of tree.” Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Jeffra Nandan, an educator, and her husband, Yash Nandan, a sociologist, moved to Princeton in 1971 because Mr. Nandan insisted on access to a decent research library, and the university has several, which it makes available to the public. (Frank Gehry designed the latest, the Lewis Science Library, which opened in 2008.) The couple raised two children in the community, and still live in the same house.
“It’s a highly educated town, with people who value education,” Ms. Nandan, 73, said. “The school system is wonderful. That’s one of the reasons we never moved.”
John James Jenkin, 54, an executive of the furniture company Kartell, arrived in 2008 because he was relocating his family to the United States from northern Italy and couldn’t imagine his provincial children surviving the New York City subways.
“I came here on a Sunday and looked around,” he said. “I liked the place. It was small, quiet and very New England” — an Italian’s way of describing quaint old buildings and manicured greenery.
The children have since grown up and returned to Europe, but Mr. Jenkin and his wife became attached to a knot of international academics and corporate professionals. “Ninety-nine percent of our friends are from Europe,” Mr. Jenkin said. He’s staying, too.
“It’s not a sheltered little private bedroom community anymore,” said Gerri Grassi, a vice president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Fox & Roach Realtors. She dates the transformation to the last two decades, when a number of multinational (especially pharmaceutical) companies moved to Princeton’s fringes, diversifying the cultural mix. Among the 3,900 students attending Princeton’s public schools, 22 percent speak a first language other than English; it might be Spanish, Chinese, Russian, French, Arabic, Korean, German, Polish, Dutch, Danish, Hungarian, Burmese or Hebrew, according to the school district’s website.
Shops are tucked into the brick-and-stone facades on Palmer Square West. Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Princeton’s population of about 31,200 is 67.2 percent white, non-Hispanic; 16.9 percent Asian; 7.5 percent Hispanic or Latino; and 5.7 percent Black. “We have one of the oldest African-American communities in America; there were free Africans living here in the 17th century,” said Sheldon Sturges, a founder of the nonprofit Princeton Future, a community planning organization.
Much of the Black community has been displaced over the past century, and Princeton, with its deep historical roots, is coming to terms with its racially troubled past. Having formerly rejected student activists’ demands to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its school of public and international affairs, the university reversed course last June and expunged it.
This June, a new name for the John Witherspoon Middle School will be selected from a list of alternatives offered by a committee and voted on by the public. Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was among several slaveholders who led Princeton University in the 18th century. (Proposed substitutes include John Lewis, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Michelle Obama.) Witherspoon is also the name of one of the most prominent village streets. Paul Robeson, the singer, actor and activist, whose father was born in slavery, grew up there, in a historically Black neighborhood that has been gentrified. In April, Robeson’s legacy was observed in a weeklong program of events that will be repeated in coming years, and his family house is being restored. He is also in the running for the new eponym for the middle school.
33 ROSEDALE ROAD | A five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom house, built in 1929 on 2.07 acres, listed for $2.4 million. 800-839-1295 – Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times
What You’ll Find
Until recently, Princeton was two nested entities — a village-like borough and a surrounding township — that shared a name and a school system, but had different governing structures. They were combined in 2013.
Stretched over 600 largely neo-Gothic acres, Princeton University is the municipality’s primary employer and a bounteous provider of free lectures, walking paths and sports events. (The football stadium remained open during the pandemic so the public could climb the stairs for exercise.)
On the campus, you will find such treasures as Nassau Hall (1756), which served as the nation’s capitol in 1783; the Princeton University Art Museum, for which a new building has been designed by the Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye; the McCarter Theatre Center, which since 1930 has brought groundbreaking actors, dancers and musicians to its stages; and even a New Jersey Transit train depot.
In April, the university announced plans to add three million square feet of construction over the next 10 years, including student housing, parking facilities and a 2,100-seat soccer stadium and racket center. It also vowed to reach net-zero emissions by its 300th anniversary, in 2046.
719 GREAT ROAD | A five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom house built in 1830, on 2.01 acres, listed for $1.499 million. 609-658-4999 – Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times
What Princeton University doesn’t offer to the community in which it is a major landholder is much tax revenue. This is one reason residents have exorbitant property taxes, paying an average $20,352 on homes with an average value of $841,064.
Also contributing to the town’s high tone are the Institute for Advanced Study, a research center whose past and current faculty include 35 Nobel laureates (not least Albert Einstein), and the Princeton Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian training ground founded in 1812.
History is embedded in almost every rock and brick — clothed grandly in the Morven Museum & Garden, an 18th-century former New Jersey governor’s mansion; unrolling in Princeton Battlefield State Park, where George Washington triumphed over British Regulars; popping up like crocuses at the Princeton Cemetery, where Aaron Burr, Grover Cleveland and Sylvia Beach (founder of the Paris bookshop Shakespeare & Company and James Joyce’s publisher) are buried.
What You’ll Pay
Residential housing data published on the website of Beatrice Bloom, a real estate agent in Princeton, indicates an average sale price in March of $1,067,894, based on 25 closed transactions, after an average 65 days on the market. In March 2020, the month the lockdown began, 15 houses closed for an average price of $820,393, after an average of 146 days on the market.
Princeton’s most coveted houses, many dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, tend to be in the old borough, within walking distance of the business district centered at the intersection of Nassau and Witherspoon Streets, across from the Princeton campus.
113 VICTORIA MEWS | A two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom condo built in 2016, listed for $1.3 million. 917-225-0831 – Credit – Karsten Moran for The New York Times
The least expensive property currently for sale is in Palmer Square, in the heart of the little downtown. This section was revitalized beginning in the 1930s (at the expense of a Black neighborhood there) and developed with apartments over shops. A furnished 272-square-foot condo in a 1932 shingled building is listed for $299,900, with a monthly homeowner fee of $258 and annual taxes of $5,372. The Residences at Palmer Square is a complex dating from 2012, with luxury condo units or townhouses that can be bought or rented.
An example of a loftier property somewhat removed from the center is a converted 121-year-old dairy barn with six bedrooms and a half-timbered tower that was originally an outbuilding on the Drumthwacket Estate, the official home of the governors of New Jersey. The price of that property, on two acres, recently dropped to $3.75 million, with annual taxes of $43,151.
The Vibe
A springtime Sunday shows Princeton at its best, with blossoms dripping from trees and street-side cafes humming. “People go in on the weekend just to walk around,” said Stephen Rounds, a local dentist, noting that shoppable village centers are especially attractive in car-centric New Jersey. Traffic snarls are one consequence; scarce and expensive street parking is another. (The local government has been working on solutions to both problems.)
70 PINE STREET | A three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom house, built in 1975 on 0.14 acres, listed for $978,500. 609-306-0899 – Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times
As almost everywhere else, businesses have suffered during the pandemic. The empty shell of Brooks Brothers on Palmer Square reflects the store’s national failure; more personal was the announcement in October that Henry and Robert Landau, brothers who owned a woolens shop that had been operating in Princeton since 1955 (with a little Einstein museum tucked in the back), were bowing to economic pressures and retiring. But residents like Dr. Rounds, who look back to a time when the downtown was quieter and quirkier, see possibilities for the return of mom-and-pops.
The Schools
Princeton Public Schools enrolls about 3,900 students in four kindergarten-through-fifth-grade elementary schools (Community Park, Johnson Park, Littlebrook and Riverside); one sixth-through-eighth-grade middle school; and one high school. State regulations permitting, the district plans to reopen for full-time, in-person learning in September.
On 2018-19 state tests, the last for which comparative results are available, 78.4 percent of elementary and middle-school students met standards in English, versus 57.9 percent statewide, with a participation rate of 95.4 percent; 63.6 percent met standards in math, versus 44.5 percent statewide, with a participation rate of 99.5 percent.
During the 2019-20 school year, 74 percent of 11th and 12th grade students enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course, versus 35.7 percent statewide. The 32 subjects included microeconomics, music theory and Latin. Students may also arrange to take courses at Princeton University.
Average 2019-20 SAT scores were 646 in reading and writing and 655 in math, versus 536 in both subjects statewide.
Notable private schools include Princeton Day School, Stuart Country Day School and the Hun School of Princeton.
A 50-foot-tall limestone monument, designed by Frederick MacMonnies and Thomas Hastings and unveiled in 1922, commemorates George Washington’s victory in the 1777 Battle of Princeton. – Credit Karsten Moran for The New York Times
The Commute
The New Jersey Transit shuttle known as the “Dinky” makes its five-minute trip from Princeton to the adjacent community of Princeton Junction every day. Travel from there to Pennsylvania Station in New York takes an hour to 90 minutes and costs $16; a monthly pass is $451. The trip to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia takes an hour or two, with a transfer in Trenton, and costs $5; a monthly pass is $145.
The History
In 1683, a New Englander named Henry Greenland built a tavern, or “house of accommodation,” on the King’s Highway, which had evolved from one of the pathways of the region’s Lenni Lenape people. This was believed to be the first house in the municipality now known as Princeton, and parts of it remain in a building on the Princeton Kingston Road. In 1756 the College of New Jersey relocated to the area and constructed Nassau Hall as its quarters. The school changed its name to Princeton in 1896.
Across the Big Apple, these posh properties equally embrace design and the environment
Luxury living in New York is going the way of green. A small but increasing number of new buildings in the city are built with sustainability in mind and have an eye on design at the same time.
A decade ago, sustainable apartments were unheard of in New York, according to Steven James, the CEO of Douglas Elliman, New York City. “Today, the idea is not totally commonplace but definitely increasing, especially in very upscale high-rises where no expense was spared during the construction,” he says.
Douglas Elliman lists several thousand residences a month in the city, says James, and around 5% include eco-friendly features, compared with virtually zero five years ago. “We’re talking about properties that run well into the seven figures,” he says.
Located in the heart of FiDi, 77 Greenwich 15D boasts eco-friendly interiors designed by AD100 architect Deborah Berke
77 Greenwich, 15D
77 Greenwich is a 42-story tower in the Financial District with interiors by AD 100–ranked Deborah Berke and a pleated glass wall façade that provides panoramic water views from each of the 90 apartments. The condominium, slated to open this summer, is around 30% more energy efficient than standard buildings in the city because of features like glass in lieu of artificial light and a variable-flow heating and cooling system that’s twice as efficient as regular systems. Each residence also has air filters that provide a dedicated outdoor air supply. Amenities include a roof deck, children’s playroom, gym and bike room. This 15th floor unit has 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, light wood floors, marble baths and unobstructed Hudson River views. All of the appliances are energy efficient.\
Price: $2.075 million
Bed/Baths: 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
Square Footage:1,371
The Lantern House in Chelsea features interiors by Thomas Heatherwick marking his first residential project in the states
Lantern House, Penthouse 1019
Located in Chelsea, Lantern House is Thomas Heatherwick’s first residential project in North America and will be ready for occupancy this summer. Human health and clean living are top priorities: Every unit features a high-efficiency water filtration system, air filters to minimize contaminants, an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, and insulated window frames that minimize the use of air conditioning and heat. Lantern House amenities include a pool, gym, garden and roof deck. This penthouse is notable for its oversized bay windows overlooking the city skyline, high ceilings, an airy great room with a fireplace, and a 900-square-foot rooftop terrace on the second floor with a kitchen and refrigerator. The en suite bedrooms are generously sized while the master suite is in its own wing and has two walk- in closets.
Price: $12.97 million
Bed/Baths: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms
Square Footage: 2,810 plus a 900-square-foot terrace.
70 Little West 12th Street 23B in the Visonnaire building boasts lots of green features including a rooftop garden.
70 Little West 12th Street, 23B
In Battery Park City, the Visionaire is a LEED-certified glass tower that has a light footprint but doesn’t skimp on design. The building was partly constructed with recyclable materials, and half were sourced from within a 500-mile radius. Additional green elements include a high-efficiency air filtration system, the use of natural gas, eco-friendly paints in the public spaces and apartments, and native landscaping in the rooftop gardens, which are not treated with pesticides and are irrigated using harvested rainwater. Amenities include a rooftop terrace, lounge, gym, and pool. With two bedrooms and baths, this apartment sees plenty of natural light thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, spanning 45 feet long. The views of the city and Hudson River are hard to beat, and the open kitchen cum living area is ideal for entertaining.
Price: $2.24 million
Bed/Baths: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Square Footage: 1,311.
50 Clinton Street 3C on the Lower East Side comes with 10 foot high ceilings filled with natural light
50 Clinton Street, 3-C
Constructed in 2016, this Lower East Side condominium has several appealing amenities including a gym, a rooftop terrace with grills, and a bike room. Reminiscent of a stylish European flat, this third-floor residence with 10-foot-high ceilings is full of eco-friendly features such as solar shades that help minimize energy use, energy-efficient appliances, an emphasis on natural light, and LED lighting. The unit has large windows with views of lower New York and a kitchen counter with barstools. The master bathroom is a retreat with its chevron-patterned white marble, soaking tub. and floor-to-ceiling glass shower.
Price: $2.05 million
Bed/Baths: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Square Footage: 1,128
Charlotte of the Upper West Side contains 7 full floor units each crafted with sustainably sourced materials
Charlotte of the Upper West Side
One of the first new residential buildings to be constructed in the Central Park Historic District in the past 30 years, Charlotte of the Upper West Side has seven sustainably designed full-floor residences; listings will be live this spring. Each features its own energy recovery ventilation system that delivers fresh filtered outside air to each room of the home and is crafted with sustainably sourced materials; the wood frames, trims, flooring and millwork, for example, are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as meeting its worldwide standards of environmentally responsible forest management. The showpiece in all the units is the sprawling kitchen-living-dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows. All the bedrooms are airy while the master suites have 20-foot terraces overlooking the private garden. The building’s amenities include a gym, a pet spa, and additional storage for each residence.
Price: Starting from $11 million
Bed/Baths: Starting from 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms
Square Footage: Starting from approximately 3,750 square feet, plus private outdoor space
The panoramic views at 2 River Terrace 18D
2 River Terrace, 18D
Situated in Battery Park City, Riverhouse is a LEED-certified condominium with low carbon features such as twice-filtered air, filtered water, sustainable construction materials, and nontoxic paints. The apartments all have energy-efficient appliances, teak cabinets made with sustainably sourced wood, insulated windows, and an abundance of natural light, which helps cut down on energy use. Amenities include a gym, a pet spa, a library, a lounge, a yoga studio, and a pool. With a loftlike feel, this three-bedroom, 3.5-bath home is notable for its high ceilings and has a large entry hall plus an open design living room cum kitchen. The master bath is a standout with its frameless glass shower, soaking tub, and teakwood marble finishes.
Housing starts jumped in March, recovering from a bleak February that included wild winter storms in the South, according to a recent report from the Census Bureau. Single-family housing starts rose 15.3% over the month to a pace of 1.24 million annualized units. That’s up 37% from a year ago, but it’s important to take into account that the COVID-19 virus first took hold of the housing market in March 2020, said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae.
“The March pace was the second strongest since 2006, surpassed only by this past December’s reading,” Duncan said. “An extremely tight supply of existing homes for sale combined with still-favorable mortgage rates and an improving labor market will continue to support demand for new housing. Suburban multifamily housing construction is also benefiting from this trend.”
For now, Duncan said, the supply of existing homes for sale and an elevated level of new homes sold — but not yet constructed — should help bolster a strong construction pace of new housing starts moving into the spring buying season.
“While housing demand is expected to remain strong, we expect it to diminish somewhat as the year progresses due to the waning effect of the COVID-19 disruption to homebuyers’ purchasing timelines,” Duncan said.
Single-family housing starts ended 2020 on a high note, reaching a 1.338 million-unit pace in December — the highest pace since 2006. While the pace has certainly dropped since then, there are signs that builders could have some work in the pipelines.
A positive indicator for the housing market is the overall number of permits issued for single-family homes, which increased 4.6% from February. That number is a good indicator of future construction, according to First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi.
“Builders are facing surging demand in an environment of limited existing homes available for sale,” Kushi said. “Yet they face challenges, including limited building materials, rising lumbers costs, a dearth of buildable lots, and costly regulations. These headwinds could slow the momentum.”
A recent report showed the current price of lumber and building materials is adding approximately $24,000 to the cost of new builds, forcing prospective homebuyers to abandon new builds and focus on existing properties. That’s depleting inventory across the country.
“There continues to be a demographic-fueled shift away from renting to home-owning driven by millennials aging into homeownership, but the challenge is the historic lack of supply,” Kushi said.
Added Matthew Speakman, Zillow chief economist: “There is no avoiding the fact that prices of key materials are rising at their fastest rates in decades, and availability is often limited due to pandemic-driven supply chain disruptions. The question now is whether this enduring optimism can continue to translate into activity, and if a continuation of these conditions will eventually force builders to throttle back.”
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,739,000, up 19.4%
from February’s estimate of 1,457,000.
Single-family housing completions in March were at a rate of 1,099,000, up 5.3% from February’s rate of 1,044,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 1,199,000, up 4.6% from February’s rate of 1,146,000.
“In nearly every market, 20% more inventory means 20% more home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “Today’s news on the new home construction surge is, therefore, highly welcomed, especially in light of major challenges on material costs and soaring lumber prices.”
Since Matthew Turner was laid off in October, he estimates he’s applied to close to 600 jobs, with no luck.
Nearly as difficult has been his hunt for rental assistance.
Turner’s contacted many local organizations in North Carolina where he lives, but has been denied or left on waitlists by all of them. He and his husband, Gerard, have depleted their savings and don’t know how they’re going to come up with May’s rent for their Raleigh apartment.
“It’s incredibly stressful,” Turner, 48, said. “You don’t know what else to do.”
Congress has allocated a total of more than $45 billion in rental assistance after the coronavirus pandemic cost millions of Americans their jobs and left as many as 1 in 5 renters unable to keep up with their housing payments, including close to a third of African American renters.
However, the rollout of the relief funds isn’t coming fast enough for many, and evictions continue despite a national ban on the proceedings.
So far, states and their local programs are in the process of distributing $16 billion of the $25 billion in rental assistance passed in December, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
In May, the Department of the Treasury will begin sending to states and localities the additional $21 billion in rental assistance allocated in March’s stimulus package.
As of early April, three months after the $25 billion in relief was passed, some 20 states have yet to open a program to give out the aid.
That has left tenants across the country stuck in line for the assistance.
“Wait times for rent relief in Massachusetts are still weeks to months,” said Helen Matthews, communications manager at City Life/Vida Urbana, a nonprofit in Boston.
The delays are due to the fact that states are figuring out how to distribute an unprecedented amount of money, experts say. In addition, housing advocates say that some states are unnecessarily slowing things by imposing arduous documentation requirements for tenants to qualify.
Another issue is that state programs have the option of giving the money directly to a renter if their landlord refuses to participate, but most aren’t doing so, said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. (Some landlords don’t want to agree to certain terms of accepting the assistance, which can include not raising rent or evicting their tenant for a period of time.)
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has banned most evictions through the end of June, many landlords are pushing out tenants anyway.
Since the CDC ban went into effect in September, The Eviction Lab at Princeton University has identified more than 217,000 evictions in just the five states and 19 cities that it tracks. Some federal judges have questioned the CDC’s authority to ban evictions, and an advisory body to the Texas courts this month issued guidance saying judges didn’t need to enforce the moratorium.
Unable to rely on the eviction ban for protection, struggling renters in Texas have also not had much luck getting rental assistance.
A report published this month on Texas’ rent relief program found that out of more than 176,000 people who’ve begun applying for financial assistance there, only 250 applications have been approved with payments sent out.
“If it takes you 45 days to get money, and 44 days to get evicted, what was the point of the money?” said Mark A. Melton, a lawyer who has been representing tenants pro bono during the pandemic.
“It’s like drowning in the ocean and being 12 inches away from a lifeline, but no one is helping to push it your way.”
CoreLogic’s latest monthly Loan Performance Insights report for January 2021 shows 5.6% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 2.1-percentage point increase in the overall delinquency rates compared to January 2020. Nationally, the overall delinquency has been declining month to month since August 2020.
To gain an accurate view of the mortgage market and loan performance health, CoreLogic examines all stages of delinquency, including the share that transitions from current to 30 days past due. In January 2021, the U.S. delinquency and transition rates, and their year-over-year changes, were as follows:
Early-Stage Delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due): 1.3%, down from 1.7% in January 2020.
Adverse Delinquency (60 to 89 days past due): 0.5%, down from 0.6% in January 2020.
Serious Delinquency (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure): 3.8%, up from 1.2% in January 2020 but 0.5 percentage points below the August 2020 peak.
Foreclosure Inventory Rate (the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process): 0.3%, down from 0.4% in January 2020.
Transition Rate (the share of mortgages that transitioned from current to 30 days past due): 0.7%, up from 0.6% in January 2020.
For families experiencing financial distress, the year began on an encouraging note with delinquencies the lowest they’ve been since the onset of the pandemic. However, millions of homeowners remain in mortgage forbearance plans that were originally scheduled to begin expiring in March 2021. To provide additional time for owners to regain their financial footing and support during the recovery, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced a six-month extension of forbearance for Government-Sponsored Enterprise loans.
“While delinquency rates are higher than we would like to see, they continue to decline,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “At the same time, foreclosure rates remain at historic lows. This is a good sign, and considering the improving picture regarding the pandemic and climbing employment rates, we are looking at the potential for a strong year of recovery.”
“The transition rate from current to delinquent this January was the lowest in twelve months, which is another hopeful sign that family finances are beginning to improve,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. “Further, the transition from 30- to 60-day delinquency was the lowest since last March and is likely to decline further with strong job growth. The consensus view among economists is that the 2021 economy will expand at the fastest rate since 1984.”
State and Metro Takeaways:
All U.S. states and nearly all metro areas logged increases in annual overall delinquency rates in January.
Hawaii and Nevada (up 4.2 and 4.1 percentage points, respectively) logged the largest annual increase in overall delinquency rates, as these states are dependent on tourism, which has been slow to recover.
Among metros, Odessa, Texas, experienced the largest annual increase with 9.7 percentage points as the area is still recovering from significant job loss in the oil industry.
Other metro areas with significant overall delinquency increases included Midland, Texas (up 7.7 percentage points) and Kahului, Hawaii (up 7 percentage points).
Perched atop this week’s list of oldest homes on the market is an exquisitely preserved Colonial in Massachusetts dating to 1690. Right next to the waters of Gloucester Harbor, this beautiful old-timer has been updated in all the right places.
The rest of the week’s 10 oldest homes also have a claim to pre-Revolutionary War history, but thanks to strategic face-lifts, many are looking better than ever in 2021.
But if you’re in search of a renovation project, there are a couple of opportunities. A 14-acre estate with a farmhouse and stocked pond dating to 1750 is headed to the auction block with a low opening bid. There’s also a Colonial in Pennsylvania sitting on land that dates to the original William Penn land grant.
So take a stroll back in time and tour this week’s 10 oldest homes.
1. 1 Old Salem Rd, Gloucester, MA
Price: $699,000
Year built: 1690
New England treasure: This Colonial just up the road from Boston strikes a wonderful balance between smart preservation and modern updates.
Many of the home’s original features are still intact, including the floorboards and a parson’s cabinet. More recent updates to the three-bedroom residence include a modern kitchen and bathroom, central air conditioning, and fenced garden.
2. 719 Prince District St, Georgetown, SC
Price: $657,500
Year built: 1721
Thomas Bolem home: One of the oldest taverns still standing in South Carolina, this home has been extensively renovated and now boasts a modern kitchen and bath.
Additional highlights of the four-bedroom home include front porches on both levels, an outdoor piazza for gathering, and close proximity to shopping and dining. Currently used as a vacation rental, the home maintains a five-star rating among guests.
3. 313 Umpawaug Rd., Redding, CT
4. 161 Wallis Rd, Rye, NH
Price: $1,595,000
Year built: 1725
Rand family homestead: Minutes from downtown Portsmouth and beaches, this property includes a lovingly maintained four-bedroom home that has had only three owners over the past three centuries.
Period highlights include wide-plank pine floors, kings pine shiplap wainscoting, and a wood-burning fireplace. Updated areas are highlighted by a modern country kitchen, loft, and private yard with outdoor shower.
5. 521 Elsie St, Reading, PA
Price: $479,900
Year built: 1745
Picture-perfect: Situated on more than an acre—on part of the original William Penn land grant—this five-bedroom Colonial has been modernized with a new kitchen and bathrooms.
It also includes throwback touches like an original bake oven fireplace, workshop, as well as a root cellar converted into a wine cellar. There’s also a third-floor area that would make an excellent studio or guest accommodations.
6. 31 Old State Rd, Epping, NH
Price: $641,500
Year built: 1745
Rockingham County: This classic post-and-beam New England Colonial has been expanded twice: once in the 1800s, and again in 2006.
Today, the four-bedroom home offers a spacious 3,953 square feet of living space. Standout features include the beehive double-sided fireplace in the living room and a two-story attached barn.
7. 16541 Dolf Rd., Stewartstown, PA
Price: $175,000
Year built: 1750
Auction-ready: Get your paddle ready, and put in a bid on this three-bedroom antique sitting on just over 14 country acres. It boasts a covered front porch, wood stove, renovated kitchen, and walk-up attic. The acreage offers plenty of room to expand.
And there’s still time to get your finances together—the auction is scheduled for May 7, and the current list price is just a suggested opening bid.
8. 122 Walker Rd, Washington Crossing, PA
Price: $1,450,000
Year built: 1750
Pre-Revolutionary in Bucks County: The owner of this five-bedroom classic updated the interiors while maintaining timeless touchstones.
You’ll see original wide-plank floors, lovely high ceilings, exposed beams, and beveled-glass windows. The 3-acre property also includes a barn with a second-floor entertainment space equipped with air conditioning and heating.
9. 1369 Old Chapel Rd., Boyce, VA
Price: $480,000
Year built: 1750
Clarke County: One of the most historic homes in the area, this lovely Federal Georgian–style residence has a rich history, including service as a local tavern.
Nowadays, this three-bedroom home comes with a renovated kitchen, four wood-burning fireplaces, heart pine flooring, and original hardware. There’s also a lush lawn, fire pit, and two porches for outdoor living and entertaining on over a full acre
10. 6089 Lower York Rd, New Hope, PA
Price: $895,000
Year built: 1750
Mixed use: Zoned for commercial or residential use, this three-bedroom fieldstone home could be transformed into a gallery, office, or retail space. Or a buyer could simply opt to live here and forgo the commercial opportunities. A period restoration has preserved all of the home’s original warmth with modern necessities like high-speed internet and plenty of parking.
