Home sales volume remained low in the third quarter of 2011, with 4 percent fewer properties sold citywide than the number sold in the third quarter of 2010, according to data from New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, released today. The one-year decline in the number of sales transactions was especially large in Queens, with volume down 9 percent from the third quarter of 2010.

“Sales volume continued to lag in the third quarter of 2011, showing little change since last quarter and remaining well below the sales volumes we’ve seen in the city in the past decade,” said Ingrid Gould Ellen, faculty co-director of the Furman Center. – Katherine Clarke [more]

There is no evidence to support the idea that an increase in the number of housing voucher holders, or federal rental housing assistance for low-income households, in a community leads to increases in crime, according to a study by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy which examined crime and housing data over 12 years in 10 U.S. cities, released today. Instead, voucher holders are more likely to move into areas where crime rates are increasing.

“We find that crime tends to be higher in neighborhoods with more voucher holders. However, we found no evidence that an increase in the number of voucher holders leads to more crime,” said Ingrid Gould Ellen, faculty co-director of the Furman Center and a professor at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. — Katherine Clarke [more]

The New York City home sales volume declined 20 percent between the first and second quarters of the year, and is down 40 percent compared to March through June of 2010, according to a report released today by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

Though the sales volume declined, home prices increased citywide by about 6 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter of 2011, but remained 21 percent below their peak in the fourth quarter of 2006. – Miranda Neubauer [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.

Ingrid Gould Ellen, co-director of the Furman Center

Though rumors of a real estate recovery circulate, the foreclosure epidemic — especially in hard-hit Southeastern Queens — is not subsiding, despite government intervention. Throughout Queens, foreclosure filings in the first three quarters of 2009 nearly surpassed the number of filings for all of 2008, according to data released by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. In Jamaica alone, there have been 1,589 foreclosure filings through Sept. 30 while there have been 1,077 in nearby Queens Village, the center found. While non-profits like Neighborhood Housing Services, which offers counseling for troubled homeowners have been successful in helping some homeowners avoid foreclosure by modifying their mortgage through federal programs like the Making Home Affordable program, most homeowners still fall into foreclosure due to lengthy waiting games and excessive bureaucracy. Although the Bloomberg administration has donated more than $24 million to another non-profit called Restored Homes, which is looking to buy more than 100 foreclosed homes throughout the outer boroughs, many citizens are calling for additional governmental intervention. However, Ingrid Gould Ellen, co-director of the Furman Center said it’s impossible to help every troubled homeowner. “Policy shouldn’t be directed at keeping all residents in every home. It can’t be,” Ellen said . “If they really can’t, we want to figure out how they can exit as gracefully as possible.” [more]