From the January issue: Hope springs eternal in the New York City residential market, especially now that 2009 — the worst year in recent memory — is over. “If you survived 2009, you can survive anything,” said Yael Dunayer, an executive vice president at Barak Realty. Like many other brokers, he pointed to strong activity in the second half of last year as an indicator of a possible 2010 recovery. “The last six months of 2009 have been very active and brokers should look forward to riding this trend well into 2010,” Dunayer said. One reason for this optimism is that December — usually one of the slowest months of the year — saw more activity than usual, brokers said. As the holidays approach, New Yorkers — and would-be New Yorkers — usually take a break from real estate shopping, preferring to gift-shop instead. But this year, low prices continued to lure buyers into the marketplace and prompted them to sign on the dotted line much later than usual. “Last year, the brokers didn’t show around the holidays. It’s different this year,” said Marilyn Harra Kaye, president of MLBKaye International Realty. “We even canceled an [office] meeting this month because the brokers were very busy.” Of course, December 2008 was much slower than usual, since it arrived in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse. But brokers said last month was busier than most holiday seasons, thanks in part to the perception that there are deals in the marketplace.

From the October issue: Back in 2006, when Glenwood Management began assembling parcels on the
eastern edge of the then newly rezoned Hudson Yards district to make
way for Emerald Green, it knew the project would have plenty of company
when it opened. Thousands of high-end apartments in several massive
rental projects were slated to hit the market in the emerging
neighborhood at the same time or soon after. What they didn’t anticipate was the mess of a market they’d be entering. The 24-story, two-tower building, located at 320 West 38th Street, has
just begun renting its 569 apartments, not long after the release of a
quarterly market survey declaring the past year a disaster for rentals. more

From the October issue: Zhann Jochinke, an associate broker at Argo Residential, put an alcove
studio on the market last year for $525,000. But the offers that came
in were as low as $390,000. “People were putting bids out there just to
see if the person had to sell,” he recalled. More recently, however, he
convinced the seller to drop the price to around $490,000. Offers began
coming in at “5 percent or less off the asking price,” he
said. Now, the listing is in contract, and expected to close in the
next month. After months of uncertainty, Manhattan buyers and sellers
are finally
making a market.

Mid-sized Manhattan-based brokerage firm MLBKaye International Realty
is taking a gamble on new storefront offices in the midst of a
downturn. The family-owned company, which is looking to double in size, has
opened a new office at 38 West 8th Street between Fifth and Sixth
avenues, according to Marilyn Harra Kaye, the firm’s president. The new
office is approximately 500 square feet and boasts double windows
overlooking 8th Street, which are perfect for posting real estate
listings, she said. The new location brings the firm’s total number of offices to three.
Other branches include executive offices at 641 Lexington Avenue at
55th Street and a storefront location at 1067 Park Avenue between 88th
and 87th streets. [more]