HowardNew York vs. Sydney Aus. Real Estate
September 10th 2006 13:02
Riverdale Bell Tower, Bronx, NYC, NY
I- Was asked to attempt to compare Sydney and New York real estate prices, and I must say I have a lot to learn. The interesting thing in the Sydney listings, as shown below, is the diversity of price ranges. We don’t have that in New York City anymore. Everything is expensive, everything is crazy. If you have a rent control apartment, you have to live there for life, or face a 50% or 100% higher rent. Soon, it will be like Moscow, Russia, where people are killed in order to seize their apartments. It is already that way with people being burned out of their apartment buildings.
Prices will go down in many suburban areas, but the New York City real estate is going down very little. And the top hot stuff is not going down. I mean, every yuppie banker from here to Hong Kong wants a place in NYC. And then, where will the hyperinflationary commodities boost, versus the bubble pop find “equilibrium”?
In Sydney Australia
In Sydney Australia, the differential in prices is clearly much wider. This is an example from http://cracker.com.au/sydney/real-estate/rent/search.aspx
1. 7 Hughes Street, Potts Point - 1 Bed 1 Bath (Potts Point) « $310 « - 1 BedroomLarge 1 B.R. plus study Ground floor of a double story Terrace, Large 1Br with extra study/sunroom. Features-high ceilings with polished timber floor boards, large bedroom, separate study/office...
2. Darling Point Rd - 3 Bed 2 Bath 2 Car (Darling Point) « $1,900,000 « - 3 Bedrooms
MODERN PENTHOUSE INSPIRED STRATA RESIDENCE WITH SENSATIONAL VIEWS & ELITE ADDRESSFOR SALE $1,900,000 A perfect vantage point for fireworks & yacht races, this modern executive villa takes pride...
It’s a bit confusing. Of course infrastructure and other things can vary greatly. In New York, if you lived in a slum it used to be cheap. Living in public housing is cheap, but now the “investors” are even trying to buy out affordable housing like the Stuyvesant Houses on 14th St.. There is some political noise about this.
I guess in the Sydney area, a place could be in the middle of nowhere, and those be quite cheap, while new condos and other housing downtown is very expensive. But, in New York now, almost everything is too high.
For example, up on the hill, in Riverdale, Bronx, NYC,NY, over the semi-slum where I live, 2 and 3 bedroom condos and houses can go from $280,000 or so, up to $800,000 or higher. And it’s really such an ordinary, though pleasant neighborhood, with lots of children.
The photograph above is of the Riverdale Bell Tower, builit in September 1930, which houses a Spanish Bell that was cast in 1762. The architect was Dwight James Baum (1888-1939). The bell was captured, that is, it was booty from the Mexican-American War of 1848. It was captured by Gen. Winfield Scott (1786-1866) in Mexico City. By the way, Congressman (later President) Abraham Lincoln was totally opposed to the Mexican War (and would also oppose the Iraq war probably), and is famous for his “Spot Resolution” which demanded the President Taylor show Congress whether the spot of the fight between U.S. and Mexican soldiers was actually on U.S. Territory. I could go on….
Anyway, the 500-ton bell tower was actually moved to its present location, now a small “Greenstreets” Park, from a site 700 feet north. That’s some heavy lifting.
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