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Posts Tagged ‘Brownstoner’

[Brownstoner] Navigating Property Values Through Mass Opinions

June 7, 2010 | 10:39 pm |

Brownstoner, which is the go to resource on all things Brooklyn has a regular appraisal feature which I’ve meant to comment on. They feature an active property listing whether its a co-op, condo or brownstone and ask for readers to estimate the value of the property.

Most posts seem to garner 20-30 “appraisals” which is summarized in a chart.

Today the featured “Co-op of the Day” was 96 Schermerhorn Street, #7G


[click to open post]

While they might consider changing their use of the word “appraisal” to something else like “opinion”. But frankly, with the crap being passed off as bank appraisals these days, I am pretty confident the reader won’t need to tell the difference.

The reader comments are both entertaining (hilarious) and informative at the same time. Whats intriguing about the chart itself is that it tells a good part of property valuation process appraisers go through. We have to deal with outliers, both high and low, that when relied on exclusively, don’t often reflect a reasonable value estimate.

The data is inherently different though – while this is a compilation of opinions on the property, the data points don’t represent sales transactions, each of which would have had a “meeting of the minds” and made it all the way to a closing usually via mortgage financing.

Of course, the results can also be skewed by the particular perspective of the participants for each property: renters, owners, brokers, etc. and someone could try to game the results, but the outliers tend to offset each other. The “appraisals” on the blog appear to be consistently averaging 10% to 20% below ask over the past month. This particular property was “appraised” at 12% below ask.

According to our market reports, the average listing discount for the past 2 years has averaged 4.9% so unscientifically, this “appraisal” method hits the properties 2-3 times harder than the actual discount might show.

However, as long as the “appraisal” discounts remain consistent, it might have some reliability, but more likely, it provides an nuggets of insight and a lot of entertainment.

I’d like to think actual appraising is this entertaining.

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1Q 2010 Philadelphia Housing Resumes Downward Slide

May 4, 2010 | 10:01 pm |

This quarterly market report is provided by Dr. Kevin Gillen, an economist and Research Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research. He analyzes the Philadelphia real estate market using the city’s real estate database through Econsult, an economics consulting firm based in Philadelphia PA that provides statistical & econometric analysis in support of litigation as well as business and public policy decision-makers. His results are published in a research paper called Philadelphia House Price Indices each quarter as a public service to the Philadelphia real estate community. Here’s his methodology.

Kevin does a great job parsing out the market and it is a pleasure to share his results on Matrix …Jonathan Miller

Download the report and Kevin’s commentary.

Observations

A struggling economy and “snow-mageddon” took its toll on Philadelphia’s housing market this past winter, with the most recent home sales data indicating that both house prices and sales activity took another hit during the most recent quarter.

After a year in which the market signaled some signs of finally stabilizing, house prices fell citywide in the first quarter of 2010. The typical Philadelphia home declined in value by an average of 4% on a quality- and seasonally- adjusted basis this past winter, according to the latest analysis by Econsult economist Kevin Gillen. This was the largest quarterly decline since the winter of 2009. From the housing market’s peak in 2006 to date, the average Philadelphia home has now fallen in value by a total of 11%…



Check this out!

For great insight on Philadelphia real estate and neighborhoods, check out Brownstoner Philadephia whose lineage can be traced back to Brooklyn, NY via the original Brownstoner.


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[The Housing Helix Podcast] Jonathan Butler, Publisher, Brownstoner Media LLC, Brownstoner.com, BrooklynFlea

November 13, 2009 | 1:05 am | Podcasts |


Jonathan Butler is the publisher of the essential Brownstoner.com which is a blog et al about Brooklyn. He started out as an anonymous blogger looking to write about his Brooklyn brownstone in Clinton Hill – then removed his mask – and his blog morphed into Brownstoner Media LLC. Some of his efforts include Brooklyn Flea, his Brooklyn flea market in both Fort Greene and under the Brooklyn Bridge, a services directory, a renovation guide, renovation blogs, and recently, a URL shortener/twitter aggregator.

The interview is done via cell phone in the middle of a construction site, which is, I suppose, the story of Jonathan’s entrepreneurial business life.

Check out the podcast

The Housing Helix Podcast Interview List

You can subscribe on iTunes or simply listen to the podcast on my other blog The Housing Helix.


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[Interview] Jonathan Butler, Publisher, Brownstoner Media LLC, Brownstoner.com, BrooklynFlea

November 12, 2009 | 11:29 pm | Podcasts |

brownstoner

Read More

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Your Doorman Twitters? Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

July 31, 2009 | 7:20 pm |

About a week ago, doormaninNYcity started to follow me on twitter and I found the tweets quite fascinating. This anonymous feed of information reminds me of the old days (4 years ago) when Property Grunt and Brownstoner burst on the blogosphere scene – they were anonymously written sites that gave readers fantastic insights (still are).

A few days ago doormaninNYcity wrote this tweet:

An appraiser came for a resident when I buzzed the resident asked if he can wait 5 min he wasn’t ready, the appraiser said no & left.

Think about that for a second – for the appraiser to leave because he couldn’t wait 5 minutes must have meant he budgeted five minutes for the inspection and would be late for the next one. Depending on the size of the property, 30 minutes should be the bare minimum time spent in the property.

5 minutes?

This has got to be one of those appraisal management company appraisers who have the real estate industry up in arms about the poor quality appraisals.


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[Of Mice and RE Bloggers] The New York Times covers 6 of us

January 24, 2009 | 2:58 pm | | Public |

It was fun to open the New York Times this morning and see Samantha Storey’s well written real estate cover story And the Blog Goes On on 6 real estate bloggers – with the added bonus of an above the fold photo. Even better that I was one of the bloggers profiled.

Aside from moi, others covered include Lockhart Steele of Curbed, Jonathan Butler of Brownstoner, Doug Heddings of TrueGotham, Noah Rosenblatt of UrbanDigs and Property Grunt of PropertyGrunt are all long time bloggers who have been on my blog roll nearly since day1 and continue to provide their unique take on all things real estate and whatever else is on their mind. All of us have different approaches, purposes, styles and audiences… thats what makes the blogosphere so cool.

On a personal note, I’ve never been superimposed on a mouse, especially as a long time trackpad user. I wonder if the “upside down” position of my photo could have some sort of hidden meaning? Like… “turning real estate on its head”, “being upside down on a mortgage”, “looking at things in a different way”?

Probably not.

Ok, back to work.

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[When Brooklyn Was The World] 4Q 2008 Brooklyn Market Overview Available For Download

January 14, 2009 | 10:08 pm | | Radio |

The 4Q 2008 Brooklyn Market Overview that I author for Prudential Douglas Elliman was just released.

The President and CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Dottie Herman, is a big believer in publishing market data to create more transparency for consumers in the market her firm serves – Manhattan to Montauk.

Other reports we prepare can be found here.

Customized tables for the 4Q 2008 Brooklyn [data](https://www.millersamuel.com/data) and a series of updated [charts](https://www.millersamuel.com/charts/index.php?Node=1215666045XVpiJ) are available on our corporate site.

A report excerpt

…The median sales price was $490,000, down 7.5% from the prior year quarter result of $530,000 and down 3.9% from the prior quarter result of $510,000. The year over year change in quarter median sales price has declined for 5 consecutive quarters beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007 when the decline was 0.9%. Subsequent quarters resulted in declines in this metric of 1%, 1.9%, 5.6% and 7.5%. In addition, this is the first time the indicator fell below $500,000 since the first quarter of 2006 when the median sales price was $499,500. Average sales price for the quarter was $559,338, down 5.2% from the prior year quarter average sales price of $590,169 and down 2.8% from $575,287 in the prior quarter. Brooklyn showed declines in median sales price more than a year ahead of Manhattan…

The media coverage of the report is available here as they were obtained (in no particular order). In addition, the headlines and respective links to articles listed below are a fun way to see how the media interprets the report content since every outlet was working off the same information.

Print/Web

Brooklyn Apartment, Home Prices Drop 7.5% as Recession Hits [Bloomberg]
Brooklyn Housing Boom: Dude, It’s So Over [New York Observer]
Q4 Brooklyn Reports Show Bloodletting, Except Brownstones [Curbed]
Brooklyn housing market still suffering [Crains]
Brooklyn apartment sales prices fall 7.5 pct -report [Reuters]
Brooklyn Real Estate Begins to Collapse, Too [Gothamist]
Brooklyn apartment sales prices fall 7.5 pct -report [Forbes]
Brooklyn Real-estate Market Reports: More Sobering News [New York Mag]
Elliman: Condos Down, Co-ops Flat, Brownstones Up in 4Q [Brownstoner]
Brownstone Brooklyn prices unscathed in fourth quarter [The Real Deal]
Brooklyn Housing Market Hit [WNYC]
Experts: Real-estate boom about to go bust [The Brooklyn Paper]

Radio

4Q 08 Brooklyn Market recap [WNYC Radio]
Brooklyn Housing Market in 4q 2008 [Bloomberg Radio]


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[No Sleep Till Brooklyn] 2Q 2008 Brooklyn Market Overview Available For Download

July 11, 2008 | 12:52 am | | Reports |

The 2Q 2008 Brooklyn Market Overview that I author for Prudential Douglas Elliman was just released.

It is the first comprehensive report of the entire borough, which is sort of surprising to me. Look for lots of additional data and charts on the market in the coming weeks. No sleep till Brooklyn!

Other reports we prepare can be found here.

A year’s worth of historical aggregate [data](https://www.millersamuel.com/data) (will have 5 years online in the coming weeks) and a series of [charts](https://www.millersamuel.com/charts/index.php?Node=1215666045XVpiJ) will also be available soon.

An excerpt

…The median sales price of a residential property in Brooklyn slipped 1.9% to $525,000 from $535,000 in the prior year quarter. Average sales price increased overall due to the influence of new condo development activity on overall prices. The average sales price of a Brooklyn property was $588,441 this quarter, 2.4% higher than the prior year quarter average sales price of $574,454. Condo prices, on a price per square foot basis, were up 16.4% to $575 from $494 in the prior year quarter. There is broad disparity between new development and re-sale condo prices. The price per square foot of a condo in a new development was $649 per square foot, up 27.5% from the $509 price per square foot of the prior year quarter. Over the same period, re-sale condos averaged $496 per square foot, up 7.4% from the $462 price per square foot of the prior year quarter…

In 2005, I began posting the links of the coverage of each report to see how each media outlet reports the market using the exact same data. I find it to be an interesting way to look at how this information is interpreted and presented.

The media coverage of the report will be provided here as they are released over the week (in no particular order).

Brooklyn home sales skid 44%; prices slip [New York Daily News]
Brooklyn Home Sales Drop 44% as Banks Tighten Lending [Bloomberg]
Brooklyn’s home sales and prices cooling [Crains New York]
Williamsburg, Greenpoint Home Prices Jump As Borough-Wide Sales Slump [NY Observer]
New Condos Saving Brooklyn Housing Market [NY Sun]
Brooklyn sales volume sees sharp drop [The Real Deal]
Second Quarter Brooklyn Market Report: Sales Nosedive! [Curbed]
Miller Samuel Report: Sales Down; Bstone, Burg Prices Up [Brownstoner]
‘KINGS’ ZINGED [NY Post]


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Carnival Of Real Estate [Week of February 11, 2008]

February 11, 2008 | 6:26 pm |

In the spirit of ’76, ’77 (the 77th Carnival of Real Estate post) I felt festive enough for some blue cotton candy and to be able to throw darts at balloons (aka tracking real estate markets). The last time I had cotton candy was in November 2006.

[What is a carnival](http://blogcarnival.com/bc/p_about.html)?

[Here’s some basic info on what it is and how to get started](http://www.zillowblog.com/carnival-of-real-estate/2006/07/). Its basically a a bunch of blogs that take turns displaying the favorite posts for the group each week. Carnivals can vary by topics and of course and the most relevant to Matrix readers is the Carnival of Real Estate.

This week’s host: [Property Grunt](http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/2008/02/76.html) who uses his razor sharp insight to filter out all the submitted posts.

Next week’s host: [Brownstoner](http://www.brownstoner.com/) [Pine Needle Lawn](http://www.pineneedlelawn.com/) (will apply the Brooklyn alphabet bring green to the Carnival of Real Estate.


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[In The Media] Inman TV Clip for 6-4-07

June 7, 2007 | 11:22 am | | Public |

Real estate media magnate Brad Inman invited me to do a segment for Inman TV. I touched on appraisal pressure, foreign investment in real estate and the cause of the booming NYC real estate market.

I got to actually meet Brownstoner.com legend Jonathan Butler who was taping before me. Lockhart Steele of Curbed followed me (I felt like the marshmallow in a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich). Brad is doing some very cool frontline reporting of all things real estate.


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Carnival Of Real Estate [Week of August 14, 2006]

August 14, 2006 | 12:01 am | Public |

[Matrix is hosting the Carnival of Real Estate the week of September 25, 2006. Its a great way to read some great posts on real estate topics of the day and not get sick on cotton candy.]

[What is a carnival](http://blogcarnival.com/bc/p_about.html)?

[Here’s a great carnival Q & A](http://www.carnivalofrealestate.com/2006/07/carnival_of_rea.html). Its basically a a bunch of blogs that take turns displaying the favorite posts of the group each week. Carnivals can vary by topics and of course and the most relevant to Matrix readers is the Carnival of Real Estate.

This week’s host: [Brownstoner](http://www.brownstoner.com/) is getting his turn on the carousel this week by presenting what he feels are the [best posts submitted to him by carnival members](http://brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2006/08/real_estate_blo.html).

Next week’s host: [Pineneedle Lawn](http://www.pineneedlelawn.com/) who will use their Land-o-lakes perspective to select the best posts of the week.

Carnival of Real Estate


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Carnival Of Real Estate [Week of August 7, 2006]

August 7, 2006 | 11:15 am | Public |

[Matrix is hosting the Carnival of Real Estate the week of September 25, 2006. Its a great way to read some great posts on real estate topics of the day and not get sick on cotton candy.]

[What is a carnival](http://blogcarnival.com/bc/p_about.html)?

[Here’s a great carnival Q & A](http://www.carnivalofrealestate.com/2006/07/carnival_of_rea.html). Its basically a a bunch of blogs that take turns displaying the favorite posts of the group each week. Carnivals can vary by topics and of course and the most relevant to Matrix readers is the Carnival of Real Estate.

This week’s host: [Property Grunt](http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/) is [presenting what he feels are the best posts submitted to him by carnival members](http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/2006/08/real-estate-carnival.html) and applies his unique insight to the expanding content.

Next week’s host: [Brownstoner](http://www.brownstoner.com/) who takes his obsession with Brooklyn Brownstones to the carnival.

Carnival of Real Estate


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