Bubble Wrap: May 2009

Hamptons Homes Drop Most Since Realtors Kept Records

Bloomberg reports on the Hamptons market, which has been particularly hard hit, with sales down 67% and median prices down almost 30% from a year ago.

The number of unsold homes in the Hamptons rose 15 percent to a record 1,673 in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to data compiled by New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. Sales have declined the most in the 27 years that broker Town & Country Real Estate has kept records for the Long Island beach towns about 100 miles east of Manhattan.

Ruling could put Ratner's Atlantic Yards project back on track

The Daily News reports on the ruling that the use of eminent domain to build a new arena for the Nets does not violate the state Constitution. Although the ruling might be appealed, further delaying the project, officials believe this is the last hurdle for the project and ground breaking could be as early as this summer.

“We’re very, very happy,” Ratner told the Daily News Friday, hours after the court victory. “This is really the last hurdle that we have and now we can do what our company does best and build an arena and houses.”

Domino Effect

The NY Times reports on Linden78, the latest building where buyers are walking away from contracts and getting their deposits returned because the developer did not meet a closing deadline.

“This is how the system is supposed to work,” said Steve Goldschmidt, a broker at Warburg Realty. “Funds were escrowed, a deadline wasn’t met and people got their money back.”

The developers were required to close on at least one unit by April 1. One buyer did close on a $3 million purchase on March 31, but the closing was not counted by the state attorney general’s office, since the building did not yet have a temporary certificate of occupancy. Those buyers too may chose to withdraw.