Sunday, June 28, 2009

More new units could mean bad news

From The Real Deal:

The inventory of new apartments in Williamsburg could double next year, which industry experts say puts more building foreclosures on the horizon.

An estimated 2,818 new apartments will have entered the Williamsburg market by the end of this year, according to data compiled by residential brokerage firm Aptsandlofts.com. Next year, 2,766 apartments are expected to come to market, the company data says.

...the biggest hurdle to selling a new project is obtaining mortgages, particularly since Fannie Mae started requiring in March that a building be 70 percent sold before it will guarantee mortgages in a building. Next month Freddie Mac is expected to implement the policy, which is intended to reduce the amount of risk the government-controlled finance companies take on.

Already this year, banks have moved to foreclose on several buildings in Williamsburg.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

All this just because a few trendy kids moved in there about 15 years ago, and discovered that they could live just a short train ride from their beloved bohemian downtown, and pay much less rent than in Manhattan. Then the landlords, investors and finally developers began seeing dollar signs, and ruined the whole thing. Just wondering where those pioneers now, and how are those "cheap" Williamsburg rents these days??

Anonymous said...

Funny, they are still building thousands of units in Long Island City, Dutch Kills, and Astoria.

Cheapest construction possible.

Guest worker barracks and Section 8 housing in about 20 years tops.

Anonymous said...

Knock them down and convert them to parks and gardens.