RealPlus, developer of real estate listings platform R.O.L.E.X., is planning to launch an enhanced version of the system, offering greater control in how firms co-broke and exchange listings, the company announced today.

The R.O.L.E.X. system will be available to all Real Estate Board of New York members as an optional, fee-based service.RealPlus handles as many as 10,000 transactions per day, it said, and supports over 500 firms, all members of the REBNY Listings Service.

Features of the new program, RealPlus said, include the option to feed listings to the New York State Multiple Listings Service, supply listings to national property site Realtor.com automatically and it offers a quicker means of co-brokering listings. — Katherine Clarke [more]

Warburg broker and REBNY technology chair Steven Goldschmidt

The Real Estate Board of New York is updating the technology behind its residential listing service, Crain’s reported, and switching to Stratus Data Systems from RealPlus Online Listings Exchange. The new service, which is compatible with applications and software that allow more programs to access information from the listing service, will be implemented in January, but the switch won’t be complete for a year.

“We needed a system that could keep up with the times,” said Steven Goldschmidt, a broker at Warburg Realty and chair of REBNY’s technology committee. “We are going from a 1995 Audi to a 2013 Lexus.” [more]

From the August issue: A sudden flurry of New York City brokers are setting up shop in Florida, hoping to cash in on a housing market making strides toward recovery.

In the last six months, commercial brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates and residential firm Prudential Douglas Elliman have both dipped their toes into the Sunshine State market with new Miami offices. They’re joining the Corcoran Group and Brown Harris Stevens, which already have offices in Florida.

“Miami seems to be one of the most vibrant places in the U.S. right now, especially in terms of foreign investment,” said Robert Futterman, founder of the eponymous retail firm. [more]

Over three-quarters of New York brokers believe that next quarter’s values and sales will be better than or the same as last quarter, according to a second-quarter survey conducted by the Real Estate Board of New York and released today. The survey found that 77 percent of respondents reported closing rental transactions at or above asking rent in the second quarter, up 16 percent from the quarter prior. Additionally, 13 percent more brokers reported closing rental transactions and 4 percent more reported closing sales compared to last quarter. Ten percent more brokers reported closing sales at or above asking price compared to what brokers reported in the second quarter of 2010. – Miranda Neubauer [more]

From left: Lansco Corp. agents Robin Abrams, Howard Dolch and Lisa RosenthalFrom the July issue: Trying to squeeze into a size that’s too small doesn’t usually work — whether it’s a person dressing for a night on the town, or a retailer looking for its flagship site. Yet with a creative tweak, clothing retailer Syms managed to wriggle into a new Fifth Avenue storefront it badly wanted.
The apparel company liked the retail space at 530 Fifth Avenue, but thought it was just too petite. To get around that, Syms’ brokers, along with landlord Joseph Moinian, arrived at the idea of also leasing a piece of second-floor office space.
Unfortunately, the office space on the second floor did not connect with the available retail space. “It was kind of far-fetched. We had people punching through bathrooms,” said Robin Abrams, executive vice president at Lansco Corp., which represented Syms and won the top retail award from the Real Estate Board of New York last month for orchestrating the tricky deal. [more]

New York City home sales prices inched upward, while sales activity blossomed in the second quarter of 2011, according to a report released today by the Real Estate Board of New York.

Sales activity increased 10 percent from the first quarter of 2011, but is down four percent from the same period a year ago due to “unseasonable fluctuations” caused by the looming expiration of the homebuyer’s tax credit, according to Steve Spinola, REBNY’s president. Meanwhile, sales prices increased 2 percent from last quarter and 3 percent from the same period a year ago. In the second quarter “we saw a return to normal cyclical market patterns,” Spinola said. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

From left: Halstead Property President Diane Ramirez, Eileen Spinola of REBNY and Secretary of State Cesar Perales

The little-known 15-member New York State Board of Real
Estate that helps craft regulations for the industry and hears
public complaints about brokerage licensing has a mandate to
meet at least three times per year yet has not held a meeting in
more than 24 months.

The quasi-governmental body, which includes appointed
members such as Diane Ramirez, president of
Halstead Property, and Eileen Spinola, a senior vice president
for the Real Estate Board of New York, last met in June
2009, before either Ramirez or Spinola began their two-year
terms. Other members include real estate brokers from the
Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and upstate as well as corporate
representatives. The governor, and majority and minority
leaders in the State Senate and Assembly appoint the members.
There are currently two vacant positions. [more]

From left: 333 West 86th Street and 235 West 75th Street (building photo credit: PropertyShark)

The Landmark Preservation Commission is holding a hearing today to
decide whether to create a historic district spanning West End Avenue
from 70th Street to 109th Street, DNAinfo reported. The
district would encompass more than 800 buildings, and quell growing
concern over the recent destruction of architectural detail on two Upper
West Side buildings. In the last two months ornamental urns were
removed from 333 West 86th Street and marble columns were detached from
235 West 75th Street. Though both incidents were licensed with proper permits, residents of the buildings were surprised and angered by the changes. [more]

Edmund Hume, president of REBNY in the 1970s.

From the June issue: The federal government charged both the Real Estate Board of New York and an apartment building owner and management group of illegally setting commission rates and other fees in the sale of co-op units, 38 years ago this month.
The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division claimed in a civil complaint filed in Manhattan that for two decades, REBNY and a group called the Apartment Association conspired “to raise, fix and maintain the commissions and fees” for brokers. Such collusion violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, the agency said.
While the government claimed that the practice would prompt residential brokerages throughout the industry to adopt the same rates as these two industry leaders and create an unlevel playing field for consumers, REBNY defended its policy of publicly stating the percentages agents should be paid. At the time it was 5 percent for sales under $100,000 and a lower rate for more expensive apartments. [more]

Clockwise from top left: Howard Dolch and Robin Abrams, Lansco; Gary Alterman, Robert Futterman, Ariel Schuster of RKF (credit Amanda Marsh); Joanne Podell, C&W; David Green, C&W; Natalia Macias, Tishman Speyer (credit Adam Pincus); Cherri Nanninga, CBRE; Gene Spiegelman, C&W; Mark Finkelstein, Retail Strategies (credit Adam Pincus); (center) Robert Futterman, RKF; (r.) Benjamin Fox, Massey Knakal (credit Adam Pincus)

Robin Abrams and Howard Dolch of Lansco received the award for “Most Creative
Retail Deal of the Year” by the Real Estate Board of New York last night for their
representation of discount stores Filene’s Basement and Syms Clothing in opening a
new flagship location at 530 Fifth Avenue in Midtown.

Robert Futterman, Gary Alterman and Ariel Schuster of Robert K. Futterman &
Associates received a prize for the deal that “most benefits Manhattan,” for representing
grocery store Fairway Market, which took a space at 240 East 86th Street in Yorkville.

The awards for the 2010 top retail deals were announced at a cocktail party at 101 Park
Avenue in Midtown. TRD
[more]