I had a nice conversation with Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on WCBS Newsradio 880 on the state of the NYC commercial office market. It was a macro-level conversation that I thought you might find helpful.
Tags: WCBS Radio, Newsradio 880, Joe Connolly, Neil Carousso, Radio
Real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield wrote a research piece on the prime Fifth Avenue retail corridor from 49th Street to 60th Street that was covered in a widely read Wall Street Journal article called Fifth Avenue Losing Luster as Vacancies Climb, Rents Fall. The following chart was in the WSJ article. Luxury real estate here peaked at about the same time.
Inside Edition reached out and asked me to take a stroll with reporter Les Trent on Fifth Avenue to talk about the state of luxury retail. Les was great to speak with and like a true pro, he had access to sidewalk chalk (see video). I think I am in a lot of tourist pictures as they were snapping my picture as we strolled up and down Fifth Avenue.
If you’ll notice in the video and article, all the vacancies were related to the fashion/clothing industries. The 1 out of 4 storefront vacancies – essentially 1 empty storefront on every block – is not reflective of NYC retail employment patterns, but simply the pullback of clothing/fashion industries from high-end retail locations as they place more resources toward their online presence.
[click to play]
Tags: Fifth Avenue, Cushman and Wakefield, Inside Edition, Les Trent
James Nelson, a commercial broker powerhouse who just moved from Cushman & Wakefield to Avison Young, came to my office and interviewed me on the new federal tax law and related subjects for his Globe Street blog column called “The Full Nelson“.
[click on image to watch interview]
He provided NYC sales volume data for all NYC boroughs but Staten Island – and I combined it with the residential data we collect to see how the real estate types compare side-by-side.
[click to expand]
Tags: Globe Street, James Nelson, Cushman and Wakefield, The Full Nelson, Avison Young
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TV, Videos
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Here’s a summary of potential future actions by Chinese investors with the recent spate of volatility in the financial markets.
According to Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, the tumult in China may lead to even more money finding its way into American residential and commercial real estate. “There are not a lot of investment vehicles in China,” said Miller. “You have the [Chinese] housing market, which is a pretty significant bubble. You have thousands of ghost cities that have been constructed. On top of that, you have a pretty volatile stock market situation. So there is some speculation that there actually will be outflow as a result of this and maybe that will end up in the U.S.” Costello concurs with Miller, noting that China’s insurance companies have been allowed by their regulators to invest in foreign real estate only since 2012. “Unless and until they have to cover losses at home, they’re not going to sell these properties,” said Costello. “They’re going to hold them for the long term.”
Tags: Yahoo! Finance, China, Chinese investors, Chinese stock market, Jim Costello, economist, Real Capital Analytics
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Charts
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A few years ago Bloomberg created indices for the Manhattan Luxury Housing market based on our data to be seen by their terminal subscribers. Cool to have an index based on our research (and a project triggered by our report efforts).
The top 10% of the market (Luxury) is hovering at just over $2,000 per square foot for the past year [top chart]. Median sales price has remained just above $4M for the past 3 years [bottom chart].
Tags: Bloomberg News, Miller Cicero
It’s officially been a decade since we launched our commercial valuation affiliate Miller Cicero, LLC and it’s been a great run so far. In appraiser years, it actually feels longer than a decade.
Our partner and co-founder in this commercial venture, John Cicero, MAI, CRE, FRICS with nearly 3 decades of valuation experience, runs the firm. Besides being a good friend and especially because he thinks I have a good sense of humor, is still one of the smartest guys I know in commercial valuation. He’s got a great executive team and staff providing commercial valuation expertise throughout the NYC metro area.
The commercial real estate world is a mess right now and Miller Cicero provides reliable neutral valuation insight to it’s clients. Give John a call.
Tags: Miller Cicero
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Podcasts
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Last week the appraisal community was up in arms about a $55 “appraisal” product that was an appraisal but no self-respecting appraiser could complete the report completely, be USPAP compliant and still make a meager living. The consensus is that it will attract shysters and promote short cuts. There is a rabid discussion forum on this topic right now on LinkedIn if you are a member of the group.
A new product by First American has now appeared which is explained in technicolor by Tyler King, our resident Phish fan and hipster over at Commercial Grade called an AVPO:
So to recap: The (licensed) appraiser looks at a set of comps, from these comps logical adjustments are made, and the appraiser formulates a value opinion. Yes…I see…that sounds nothing like an appraisal.
aside: First American owns eAppraisIT, who’s slogan on their web site, incredibly, is “Redefining Value.” For those who may have forgotten, NYS AG Andrew Cuomo filed suit against eAppraisIT back in 2007 for conspiring with Washington Mutual to inflate real estate appraisals.
First American claims “this is not an appraisal” to which the Appraisal Foundation replies:
While it is not within our purview to determine whether any particular product or service complies with USPAP, we can tell you that, as far as USPAP is concerned, the product appears to qualify as an appraisal or an appraisal review assignment. The press release states, in part:
“While this is not an appraisal, a licensed appraiser confirms the specific set of values determined by a local Realtor® by looking at comparable sales and verifying accuracy. If discrepancies are found, the appraiser provides a new set of values, complete with an explanation of how they were determined.”
If an appraiser is required to comply with USPAP (such as a licensed appraiser in a state that mandates such compliance), the above product would have to comply with STANDARDS 1 and 2, or STANDARD 3.
Best regards,
John S. Brenan
Director of Research and Technical Issues
The Appraisal Foundation
www.appraisalfoundation.org
(202) 624-3044
Tags: Appraisal Institute, Miller Cicero, NAR, National Association of Realtors
One of the mysteries of the recent credit boom was the way very smart people made decisions that they now regret. Hugh Kelly and I in our latest podcast agreed that “you do the math” simply wasn’t enough. Knowledge of rent regulation intentions was imperative.
Rental office site for Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village
One of the largest examples of the credit disconnect and the moment I realized the credit bubble had peaked was the moment I heard that the price paid for Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village was $5.4B a few years ago.
A recent ruling on rents may have been the last straw.
My commercial partner John Cicero in our Miller Cicero commercial valuation concern lays this out plain as day in his Commercial Grade blog extolling the virtues of an excellent white paper by Barbara Byrne Denham, Chief Economist of Eastern Consolidated Properties.
Here’s a great blog on the building complex.
Tags: Miller Cicero
Tags: Canadian Housing Market
For the past several years, John Cicero, my partner in our commercial appraisal venture Miller Cicero (hands down the best commercial appraisal firm in the NYC metro area), has been laboring in fits and starts to convey his views on commercial real estate valuation in the public domain.
Largely because Miller Cicero is humming on all cylinders…
At first John’s efforts were a regular column on my former Soapbox Blog called Commercial Grade which has been merged into a stand alone blog called, surprisingly, Commercial Grade. when he revamped the Miller Cicero corporate web site.
His latest is a post on commercial rent control. Check out the blog and check it often.
Tags: John Cicero, Miller Cicero, Commercial Grade
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Jonathan Miller is President and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and consulting firm he co-founded in 1986. He is a state-certified real estate appraiser in New York and Connecticut, performing court testimony as an expert witness in various local, state, and federal courts. He holds the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) designation, is an Appraiser “A” Member of the Real Estate Board of New York, and is a member of RAC.
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You'll be able to choose from an array of robust housing metrics compiled using research developed during the preparation of our market report series. Expanded significantly from prior offerings, use this resource to build charts and custom data tables or leverage your own information for more powerful research and presentations.
In the meantime, here is a small sample of the aggregated data we will provide.
Forbes ('20-)
Appraisersblogs ('17-)
'Three Cents Worth' column 3CW ('05-'16)
When Curbed was acquired by Vox, my eleven years of 3CW chart art and column links were broken on Curbed NY, Curbed DC, Curbed Miami, Curbed Hamptons, Curbed LA, and Curbed Ski.
Many of my 3CW charts can be found here:
Curbed 3CW Full Chart Archive
Op-ed column ('14-'15)
'Economic Spotlight column ('03-'09)
New York Times experiment ('08-09')
Huffington Post (09')
Favorite "How to Value" Posts
Recent Comments on Matrix