From left: Aleksandra Scepanovic and Sandra Dowling

At a time when most rental brokers in Brooklyn were girding their loins and praying for a springtime uptick in activity, one firm says it ended 2009 with a big demand for rental units, albeit with lower than average rents. Ideal Properties, a two-year old Brooklyn-based residential sales and rental firm, described its rental performance as “stronger than strong” during the last two months of 2009, in a year-end report (see full report after the jump). Meanwhile, the borough’s rental developments have been on rocky ground, with high-profile buildings like the Brooklyner, a 51-story behemoth that boasts the title of tallest building in Brooklyn, slashing prices. At last count, the Brooklyner had slashed its rates by almost 29 percent. But Ideal, which covers approximately 14 different Brooklyn neighborhoods in the western portion of the borough, including Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, beat its typical December monthly performance by 20 percent, according to Aleksandra Scepanovic, managing director at the firm. According to the report, 15.3 percent of the rental transactions for
the year occurred in the month of December alone. Scepanovic would not
indicate Ideal’s total number of rental deals for 2009, but put
December’s 15.3 percent figure at about six to 12 deals per agent. The
report is based on 7,100 rental listings in a proprietary database. The spike in activity was due to improved stability in the region, she said, a changing of the tides from 2008 and rent reductions. [more]

Sam Heskel, founder of HMS Associates, who predicts a rise in foreclosures on high-end apartments

From the December issue: While green shoots may have sprouted in some sectors of the New York City residential market, there are plenty of other areas where that is far from the case. Foreclosures continue to ravage neighborhoods throughout the outer boroughs — most notably southern Queens and parts of Brooklyn — and more distress is quietly creeping into the Manhattan residential market. In this month’s Q & A, appraisers, analysts and brokers who follow foreclosures told The Real Deal that while certain areas of the city are starting to level off when it comes to foreclosures, in others it’s difficult to even find a “regular” nondistressed sale. One expert from New York University’s Furman Center said that the third quarter of 2009 saw 6,000 foreclosure filings in the city — the largest number since the research center started tracking quarterly data in the early 1990s. And worrisome trends are on the horizon.

Roberta Benzilio, an executive director of sales at Halstead, and Toren

The developer of Toren, the long-awaited condominium at 150 Myrtle Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, has applied for Federal Housing Administration financing and is scheduled to begin closings by the second week of December, officials said. FHA financing, if approved, would help individual buyers close their apartment contracts, with low down payments and less-than-perfect credit scores, said Roberta Benzilio, executive director of sales in Brooklyn for Halstead Property, exclusive broker for Toren. “I think the FHA approval will help with the buyers who were initially only looking to put 10 percent down,” Benzilio said. “Some people don’t have the cash available.” The FHA program allows new homebuyers to finance up to $729,750 for a new home. The buyers only need a 3.5 percent down payment compared to 20 percent or more required for most bank loans in the current market. [more]