Joy and I live in a neighborhood where real estate prices are relatively stable. They go up in good times but don't go down so much in bad times. But the Bush Recession has hit our neighborhood even if not as hard as many neighborhoods. Some people in our building have had to move out because of job insecurity, new children, etc. Yet we have noticed that for the first time since we moved here, sales have been very, very slow. Generally when an apartment hits the market in our building, it goes within a few weeks. But these days they often are on the market for months.

One of the signs I saw of an ailing economy was when open houses in our building went from crowded affairs with flocks of people coming in and out eager to see an apartment, to lonely affairs for the real estate agents, leaving them with time on their hands to chat in between the occasional looker who left without making an offer. Asking any of these real estate agents how it was going, "SLOW!" was always the emphatic response. And they would have a demoralized look on their face as if "SLOW" didn't even begin to convey how bad the market was.  read more »

Bruce Ratner is trying to get some Stimulus money to line his own pockets...even though he has in essence taken his affordable housing promise off the table for the forseeable future. This audacity, thought people like Bloomberg and Markowitz may happily let Ratner take even more taxpayer money, has pissed off a pretty wide range of local politicians. I received this from Tish James' office, but it has been signed by several Brooklyn polticians:

March 3, 2009

Honorable David A. Paterson
Governor of the State of New York
The Executive Chamber, State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Paterson:

We are writing regarding reports that Forest City Ratner is requesting funds from the Federal stimulus package for the Atlantic Yards Project. We request that any application or other submitted documents to the Governor’s office related to the stimulus package be immediately disclosed to the public and the elected officials signing this letter.  read more »