Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill Home
Prices See Double-Digit Declines
A bank is moving into a portion of the 4,500-square-foot vacant space on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street, said building owner Larry Wittlin, declining to reveal the bank name due to "contractual agreements." He said he’s still looking for a tenant for the smaller, corner space. "I wouldn't want another, simply one of those corner everything-type stores. I want something more upscale. Something that would fit in here or in Brooklyn Heights or in the city."
Brooklyn average home prices increased 4 percent, from $609,176 in 2006 to $634,915 in 2007, compared to an 8 percent increase in 2008, according to Sam Heskel, founder of HMS Associates, a real estate appraisal company. Though prices increased, the number of properties sold dropped 23 percent, from 4,376 in 2006 to 3,374 in 2007. Data included one- to four-family homes, co-ops and condos in 16 Brooklyn neighborhoods.
Heskel explained that sellers were still reluctant to come down in price, and buyers were still playing a waiting game to see if they could get better prices. “The subprime crisis has caused lenders to tighten up standards for granting a loan, making it more difficult to get home financing,” he said. “Because of this, brokers are seeing many contracts fall through.”
For the year, significant price rises occurred in the Clinton Hill (8 percent) and Bay Ridge (7 percent) neighborhoods, while Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill saw double digit price declines. The largest increases in number of sales occurred in Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens, while Canarsie and Crown Heights had the biggest declines in transaction count.
A fourth quarter highlight was a 57 percent increase in Cobble Hill home prices, despite a 25 percent fall in number of home sales. But full year 2007 home prices here fell ten percent.
European foreign investors are not the only ones increasingly choosing Brooklyn property over Manhattan. According to a
Daily News and Analysis report, Indian investors are increasingly investing in the borough.
Emily James, owner of Remax Jaguar, which specializes in Brooklyn and New York real estate, said the average American buyer is skittish because of worsening market conditions, while Indian investors see the market as an opportunity. “It is true prices are dropping. There are distress sales. But one man’s loss is another man’s gain — there are opportunities. In fact, foreign buyers — Indians from London, Mumbai and people from Trinidad — are ready to close deals. I hear realtors saying they deal with people in India,” said told DNA.
She cited “steals” like a one-bedroom overlooking Prospect Park that had been marked down to $600,000. She said a buyer would need to put down $60,000 for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which is possible now that India has relaxed its norms for overseas investments. Indians can remit $100,000 every year to the United States, up from $50,000 earlier.
A Mumbai rice exporter said, “This allows Indians to make kosher investments. Manhattan and San Francisco are pricey but the U.S. is cheap compared to Mumbai and Delhi.”
— Compiled by Sarah Ryley
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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