In a move that has been in the works for nearly two decades,
Brooklyn final

[more]

Things are looking up in the Brooklyn residential market, according to Gerard Longo, president of the Brooklyn New York Multiple Listing Service.

The MLS’ first-quarter 2010 report, which culls data from the listings registered in the MLS, shows that inventory dropped 22.7 percent year-over-year in the first quarter, while sales volume increased 10.08 percent to $181.67 million in the first three months of this year from $165.04 million in the first quarter of 2009.

While the median price dropped 7.02 percent during that same time period, the average price only declined .66 percent.

“I think we found a stable place in our market,” said Longo, who is also a principal with development firm Atlantic Walk Vestry and president of Brooklyn-based real estate company Madison Estates & Properties. “I think we’re flatlining here.” [more]

From the February issue: Nothing says progress like Madoff. Late last month, The Real Deal broke the story that the Ponzi schemer’s Upper East Side penthouse finally appears close to a sale.
Listing brokers Anne Corey and Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s
International Realty have told interested agents that there is an
accepted offer on the 133 East 64th Street duplex. At press time, the
U.S. Marshals Service, which seized the property from the disgraced
financier, said the listing had not yet entered contract.
The sale (if it does clear the many obstacles of today’s market) may not be unqualified good news.
The penthouse’s asking price is $8.9 million, following a November
price chop of $1 million. It’s also been sitting on the market since
September.  [more]

The Pearline Soap Factory model condo unit

A recent uptick in all-cash buyers helped the new Pearline Soap Factory condominium sell out after nearly two years on the market, the developer told The Real Deal. All eight units, including one commercial unit, at the boutique Tribeca project are sold and closed, according to Gerard Longo, a principal at Atlantic Walk, the developer of the Pearline and its neighbor, the Fairchild. The last Pearline unit, a penthouse, closed on New Year’s Eve for $5.9 million, or $1,685 per square foot, he said. Due in part to its small size, Pearline is one of the first new developments to announce a sell-out in the wake of 2008’s financial crisis. Because of strict presale requirements from Fannie Mae, small projects have a considerable advantage in the current climate. [more]

Developer Gerard Longo, president of both Madison Estates and Properties and United Financial Services, is seeing improvements in Manhattan’s residential market, the developer told CNBC’s “Squawkbox.” His North Tribeca development at 55 Vestry Street, the Fairchild, is experiencing a sales uptick, especially from international purchasers who are taking advantage of the weak dollar, he said. These purchasers have an easy time buying at the upscale 21-unit former manufacturing spot, where prices average between $2.5 million and $3 million, because many are paying in cash. But domestic purchasers, even those who can’t foot the bill in cash-only deals, are getting back into the market as well. “It’s not just one silver lining,” Longo said. Financing is available to those willing to make a higher down payment of roughly 25 to 35 percent, he estimated.

Gerard Longo is expanding his business to brownstone Brooklyn.

Marine Park-based residential brokerage Madison Estates and Properties
is expanding into brownstone Brooklyn and is planning a leap into
Manhattan. The 60-agent firm will open a new office in a renovated brownstone at
53 Douglass Street in Carroll Gardens by mid-June, according to Gerard
Longo, the firm’s president. The move doubles the number of company
offices from its lone location at 2922 Avenue R in Marine Park in the
southeastern section of Brooklyn. Longo said his aim is to take advantage of the down market to grow the name brand in the rest of Brooklyn. [more]

Gerard Longo (left) and Dawn Doherty

Brooklyn’s biggest Multiple Listing Service has partnered with Streeteasy.com to place some 2,500 of its listings on the site, sig [more]

Gerard Longo (left) and Dawn Doherty

Brooklyn’s biggest Multiple Listing Service has partnered with
Streeteasy.com to place some 2,500 of its listings on the site,
signaling a new era of transparency for real estate in the borough. All member listings from the Brooklyn New York MLS, which represent
neighborhoods like Sheepshead Bay, Flatbush and Midwood, are now
visible for the first time on Streeteasy.com, according to Dawn
Doherty, the vice president of strategic development at the
real estate listings Web site. That means information on price changes and the number of days on the
market — data that Streeteasy.com compiles for each listing on its
site — will be available to consumers for the first time, she said. [more]