Matrix Blog

Luxury, Super, Ultra, Mega

CGTN America TV 2-22-19 Manhattan’s Luxury Market (and that $238M sale)

February 23, 2019 | 3:07 pm | TV, Videos |

I was interviewed for the U.S. version of one of China’s largest TV networks – CGTN America (formerly CCTV) on the state of the Manhattan luxury housing market and that $238 million condo sale that set the U.S. price record at 220 Central Park South.

Yes, it’s the real estate topic that won’t die.



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The (New) Tallest Chart In The History Of Manhattan Real Estate

February 9, 2019 | 4:17 pm |

With all the hubbub about the new Manhattan residential price record of $238 million and potential ramifications, I wanted to create a chart to give readers a sense of how disconnected this sale is from the prior records, and from housing prices for mere mortals in already one of the highest priced housing markets in the U.S.

I have done this before, first in 2012 when the famed $88 million penthouse sale at 15 Central Park West launched the global “super luxury” “aspirational pricing” phenomenon and the subsequent 2014 Michael Dell penthouse sale at One57 of $100.5 million.

But this time, given that this new sale would require a chart that was more than double the height of the 2014 chart, I could not find an affordable graphics app that could capture my Excel chart but create an image (png, jpg, etc.) with small enough resolution to be legible, yet still be small enough in size to be accepted by WordPress.

My solution? Make a screencast video.

To watch this, first, pack a lunch. Then, click here or on the snapshots below of the top and bottom segments of the tall chart to play the video.

Then relax and watch me start scrolling. It provides some useful context and is pretty cool despite the poor audio quality:


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Here’s What A Manhattan Commute With “Vertical Travel” Looks Like For Ken Griffin

January 26, 2019 | 9:48 am |

As coined in a Bloomberg article about hedge funder Ken Griffin’s $238 million condo purchase in Manhattan, a “vertical travel” is something many New Yorkers do every day – I’ve just never heard it described that way (following bold is my emphasis).

Citadel has signed a lease to anchor a skyscraper at 425 Park Avenue, eight-tenths of a mile from Griffin’s new apartment, not including vertical travel.

When Ken Griffin travels from his new penthouse to his office, I imagine his commute, that includes “vertical travel,” looks like this (bold is my emphasis):


Bloomberg TV 1-17-19: The Northeast to South Florida Housing Market Connection Explored

January 21, 2019 | 1:03 pm | |

Just before I stepped on the set, I got to look at the Bloomberg file photo taken at my office about 15 years ago (I think I’ve aged gracefully) but I was also called out for it.

Was the last time you were on Bloomberg Markets 1995? That headshot…— Hiten Samtani (@hitsamty) January 17, 2019

Here’s the interview along with a cameo by Sam Zell, lol!



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Yahoo Finance TV 12-4-2018 – Toll Brothers & Banking Conditions in Real Estate

December 5, 2018 | 11:15 am | | TV, Videos |


I was invited by Julie Hyman at Yahoo Finance TV for a discussion on the weakening luxury housing market and some other topics of interest. I’ve known her for years, after a long run at Bloomberg TV, and am excited about her new opportunity at Yahoo.

When I arrived at the studio, the stock market was being battered (down by over 400 points at the time of this broadcast) by the conflicting interpretations of the recent US/China tariff talks and the results Toll Brothers analyst call. It was exciting to be there during the perfect storm. The conversation shifted from what I was invited to cover, to the developing news story.

Yahoo is ramping up live coverage in early 2019 via 100% internet. Judging by their super cool/huge studio and throngs of people working there, Verizon seems very serious about their investment.

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Bloomberg Markets TV: September 11, 2018, Looking back at 9/11 and the Financial Crisis

September 11, 2018 | 8:39 pm | | Milestones |


I had a nice reflective discussion with Scarlet Fu and Caroline Hyde, reflecting on two milestones in New York City – 9/11 and the financial crisis.

Miller Samuel CEO Says Credit Conditions Haven’t Normalized Since Lehman
September 11th, 2018, 3:48 PM EDT
Jonathan Miller, president and chief executive officer of Miller Samuel Inc., takes a look at the state of the U.S. housing market 10 years after the financial crisis of 2008. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Caroline Hyde and Scarlet Fu on “Bloomberg Markets: The Close.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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PBS NBR CNBC Video – State of U.S. and Manhattan Luxury Market

August 22, 2018 | 12:31 pm | | TV, Videos |

CNBC clip

NYC luxury apartment sales drop from CNBC.

PBS Nightly Business Report clip


[Story with 2 clips begins at 18:20]

CNBC’s Diana Olick reports on luxury home sales dropping in NYC due to tax laws and fewer international buyers.

It is past the middle of August so it was odd to see that the Wall Street Journal ran a story that covered a new “half-year” report by a brokerage firm on the Manhattan luxury market from January 2018 to June 2018. But it was a good story nevertheless.

Almost two months had passed since that reporting period so CNBC reached out to me in response to talk about our already released first and second quarter Elliman Reports, as a segway to the luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers record earnings release.

More importantly, I didn’t wear a tie at the 30Rock studio interview. Hey, it’s summer.

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One57 Flip Analysis From Manhattan’s Peak New Development

November 15, 2017 | 4:47 pm | | Articles |

For those of you that read my weekly Housing Notes, you’ll know I refer to 2014 as “Peak New Development” for the Manhattan housing market. “Peak Luxury” works as a label too.

Bloomberg news broke the story that a $50M+ condo purchased in 2014 just sold at a foreclosure auction for $36,000,0000. There were five bidders. It’s been the fourth resale since the market peaked and the sixth overall – so I created a graphic of all the resales to show how they fared before and after the 2014 “peak.”


The Bloomberg story (that I got to chime in on) lays out the details of the One57 auction sale: One57 Foreclosure Shatters Price Dreams at Billionaires’ Tower

The story reached #1 as the most read on the 350k± Bloomberg Terminals worldwide yesterday.


It is important to remember that there are still a fair amount of units remaining that are priced at 2014 levels. Extell, the developer, has their work cut out for them to compete with current market conditions.

While One57 is a symbolic poster child for the new dev phenomenon, it is not a proxy for the entire new development market. Some projects were priced more reasonably at the peak, hence they haven’t fallen as much. In addition, the quality and design of each project can vary greatly. One thing is clear – since the 2014 peak, investors don’t have the same potential for big and fast returns on flips – their initial strategy was to buy early and realize instant equity as the sponsor increased the offering prices. That scenario no longer applies. Since the market has more choices for buyers now than it did back during peak, One57 is no longer seen as a “new” building like it was back then.

CNBC picked up the story – My firm and I get a shoutout during the conversation on Sqawkbox which was pretty cool.

Luxury condo in One57 tower sold in New York City’s biggest ever foreclosure auction from CNBC.

And here’s the transcript on yesterday’s PBS Nightly Business Report show (owned by CNBC) with the shoutout that is making the rounds.

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On Bloomberg TV: What’d You Miss? 10-5-2017

October 5, 2017 | 8:25 pm | | TV, Videos |

I had a fun conversation on Bloomberg Television with Scarlet Fu, Joe Weisenthal and Julia Chatterley. We were discussing the results of our research behind the Elliman Report: Manhattan Sales 3Q17 that was just released. Here is the Bloomberg story on the report results.

Here’s a portion of the interview.

If you’d like to see the whole segment, my interview starts at the 48:40 mark although I really like the format and the hosts so you might want to watch the whole show.

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VIDEO Nightly Business Report: U.S. Luxury Market Trends

August 6, 2017 | 7:54 pm | TV, Videos |

Diana Olick of CNBC interviewed me on the reason behind the luxury market uptick as a companion piece to her story on the luxury report released by Redfin.

The luxury real estate story starts at 20:58 into the broadcast:


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[Forbes] Penthouse Juxtaposition – What Developer Wants v. What Market Supports

June 15, 2017 | 5:14 pm | TV, Videos |

No one will argue that a $70 million penthouse can be special. But when a penthouse has many open houses and sits on the market for more than a year, it seems reasonable to wonder about pricing.

Samantha Sharf at Forbes presented a great video that juxtaposes the amenities of the apartment with my perspective on the state of the super luxury market and the next possible housing cycle in front of us. When they filmed this in Bryant Park, there were many people standing and watching off camera which was kinda fun despite my serious slouching.


[click on image for video]

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Our Manhattan Luxury Housing Price Indices on Bloomberg Terminals

March 4, 2017 | 10:03 pm | Charts |

Bloomberg maintains 6 quarterly charts on their terminals covering the Manhattan luxury sales and rental results we compile.  I periodically throw these charts on this Matrix Blog only because I find myself asking…how cool is that?

Manhattan Luxury Average Sales Price

Manhattan Luxury Average Sales Price Per Sq Ft

Manhattan Luxury Median Sales Price

Manhattan Luxury Average Rental Price

Manhattan Luxury Average Rental Price Per Sq Ft

Manhattan Luxury Median Rental Price

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