MarketWatch: Weekly Real Estate Update for Riverdale, Bronx – 11/13/2023 – 11/20/2023

Did You Know?

* Get rid of PMI? If you have a conventional mortgage, your lender will automatically cancel PMI when you reach 22% equity. Or, you might be able to request cancellation yourself once your equity is 20%. (CNBC)
* Laws passed by New York state 4 years ago made it much harder to raise rents on apartments subject to regulation, thwarting the business plans of speculators who acquired properties under the previous laws. Many of these buyers had hoped to renovate or deregulate rent-stabilized units and drive up rents.

When the new regulations prevented many multifamily properties from converting to market-rent units, the properties’ worth began to fall. A number of apartment landlords missed their debt payments……At some buildings, where all apartments are regulated, values have fallen as much as 70%….which reduces real estate taxes…..ie: we all pay more to get less?And the affordable housing mess continues….. (WSJ)

* Visiting an Hermes store is certain to make even the wealthiest amongst us feel a little less wealthy…..Hermes has mastered the art of (artificial) scarcity, the ultimate driver of demand and pricing in the luxury sector. The perception is that a VERY limited quantity of everything is made, and indeed they are unable to mass produce many of their items as they require enormous skill and time. While known for those elusive $10,000-plus handbags, did you know they sell a $375 scarf every 25 seconds globally?

Courtesy of Stephen Lascher, Wells Fargo