“Going back to basics. Families want the basic amenities: doorman,
washer and dryer, gym and children’s room. They need storage rooms and bins,
they want good closet space. Pet-friendly buildings are a plus. They want
buildings without many stairs at the entrance. It used to be that real
estate was all about location, location, location, but now I see that people
are willing to compromise on location if the building has everything else I
mentioned. Low monthly costs are also very important, as families encounter
higher expenses as the kids grow.” —Jacky Teplitzky, Executive Vice
President, Prudential Douglas Elliman
“New developments are trying again. Many New York City new developments
froze when the recession hit due to problems with financing. This year,
developers are ready to try again, bringing some projects that have stalled for
several years back to the market. Whether buyers will take the bait remains to
be seen.” — Sarah Polsky, Editor, Curbed NY
“More and more families are choosing to stay in the city. With the
economic crisis, we were seeing families looking to move out of the city, to
get more bang for their buck in terms of space and good schools. Smaller,
starter apartments were more easily sold as many saw the housing bubble burst
as an opportunity to enter the market. However, in the last several quarters,
we have seen more and more family-sized (two-bedrooms or larger) apartments
being sold.” — Sofia Song, Vice President of Research, Streeteasy.com
“Condo and co-op sales volume in New York City was down versus
the same period a year earlier, but the median sales price was up. This
reflects the increased demand for larger and combined units at the high end of
the market. We have also seen an increase in first-time home buyers due to
discounted sales prices and low mortgage rates. Recently, we have seen a
greater sense of urgency to move forward from buyers concerned with rising
interest rates.” —Peter Grabel, Private Mortgage Banker, Luxury Mortgage
Corp
“Buyers are looking for open kitchens or are renovating to create an
open kitchen. People are looking to expand their entertaining areas and opening
their kitchen to the dining area, allowing the host to entertain while cooking.
Cooking has also become a part of the entertaining experience.” —Deanna
Kory, Senior Vice President, The Corcoran Group
Pictured: An open kitchen at Love Lane Mews in Brooklyn Heights.
