From left: President of Century 21 NY Metro Marc Lewis, Brown Harris Stevens broker Justine Bray, tax attorney Robert Ladislaw

The end is near — that is, tomorrow — for first-time homebuyers seeking a federal tax credit introduced by Pres. Barack Obama last winter to deal with the housing downturn. Though the tax credit officially expires at midnight Nov. 30, many brokers have imposed an unofficial deadline of Sept. 1 for their buyers who want to take advantage of it. The reason is that it can take up to three months to finalize a sale, between contract signing and closing, and brokers want to play it safe. But instead of rushing to buy homes before the Sept. 1 deadline passes, as is the case in other parts of the country, many New Yorkers have spent the last few days simply shrugging their shoulders.  More

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Century 21 NY Metro has founded a new commercial real estate division,
hiring six agents away from competitor Manhattan Commercial Realty in
the process. The new six-person division, known as Century 21 NY Metro Commercial,
will focus on office and retail leasing under the leadership of Chris
Salizzoni, a five-year veteran of Manhattan Commercial. Salizzoni is the brother of Century 21 NY Metro Managing Director
Denise Salizzoni, who joined the firm recently after resigning as
luxury rentals manager at Manhattan Apartments. Chris Salizzoni brought with him five agents from Manhattan Commercial
and said he expects to grow the new division to 15 agents by the end of
the year. The new agents are based at the company’s Midtown location
at 575 Madison Avenue. [more]

As industry leaders lamented the dissolution of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, a story The Real Deal broke Wednesday, the Corcoran Group’s CEO Pamela Liebman dismissed rumors that the mid-sized brokerage will be absorbed into Corcoran. “There is no formal incorporation of Coldwell Banker agents into Corcoran,” Liebman said. “This is not a purchase by [Corcoran parent company] NRT.” She said that in the coming weeks, some former CBHK agents may be encouraged to come to Corcoran because the two companies share ties to New Jersey-based Realogy Corporation. Industry sources have said that JoAnne Kennedy, the COO of CBHK, will
be relocated within Realogy, and in a memo released Wednesday, Kennedy
told CBHK brokers that if they “follow her,” they will be able to keep
their listings and data. When asked whether Kennedy would be hired by Corcoran and bring CBHK agents with her, Liebman said she had no comment. [more]

Brokers predict that the New York City rental market’s peak season from May to September, which is driven by recent college graduates and new hires, will be slower this year. “We don’t expect to see a normal summer, where rents are driven up by people bidding up,” said Marc Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro. “A lot of college kids are not finding jobs, and landlords are competing for a smaller pool,” Lewis said. Danni Tyson, an agent at Halstead Property, said recent graduates have started turning up, but aren’t coming with the same kind of money they had last year, when Wall Street gave salaries of some $60,000 a year and $10,000 in moving fees. Brokers say graduates with limited funds may benefit from the current weakness in finance as rents fall and landlords offer concessions like paying broker fees and months of free rent.

[NYT]

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Brokers predict that the New York City rental market’s peak season from
May to September, which is driven by recent college graduates and new
hires, will be slower this year. “We don’t expect to see a normal
summer, where rents are driven up by people bidding up,” said Marc
Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro. “A lot of college kids are not
finding jobs, and landlords are competing for a smaller pool,” Lewis
said. Danni Tyson, an agent at Halstead Property, said recent graduates
have started turning up, but aren’t coming with the same kind of money
they had last year, when Wall Street gave salaries of some $60,000 a
year and $10,000 in moving fees. Brokers say graduates with limited
funds may benefit from the current weakness in finance as rents fall
and landlords offer concessions like paying broker fees and months of
free rent. [more]