Jeffrey Ditri

A quarterly report released by Property Shark today shows an optimistic, if misleading, decrease in foreclosures in New York City in the fourth quarter.

Foreclosures in the fourth quarter of 2008 showed a steep 32 percent drop from the previous quarter, though they were up 25 percent compared to last year. There were 764 homes in some stage of foreclosure last quarter, compared to 611 in the final quarter of 2007.

"Even though we experienced a sharp decrease in the fourth quarter, I don't think we're out of the woods," said PropertyShark CEO Bill Staniford. He predicts an uptick in foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2009, saying that the fourth quarter typically shows a decline in actions, due to a large number of bank holidays, during which filings of lis pendens -- a signal of upcoming foreclosures -- get pushed back.

Queens showed a notable 84 percent increase in foreclosure filings in the fourth quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of 2007, greatly contrasting with decreases in the other four boroughs. Over the same period, the Bronx showed a 53 percent decline, Brooklyn showed a 23 percent decline and Manhattan showed a 19 percent decline.

Staniford conjectured that Queens' high concentration of single-family homes, which have been hit hardest by the negative consequences of subprime lending, is one reason for its high rate of foreclosures. He noted that Jamaica, in particular, was hit hard by predatory lending practices.

Amid a weakening New York City real estate market, Manhattan renters are gaining the upper hand as market-rate rents drop and the vacancy rate rises.

For the first time in recent history, landlords are no longer in denial about current conditions, and are trying to entice renters by reducing asking rents from record highs, as well as providing incentives.

Perks have included a concession of one to two months of free rent, payment of brokerage fees, free health club membership, invitations to complimentary breakfasts and cocktail parties, free storage space and reduced monthly rates for parking.

Deals for market-rate apartments are available from the brokerage community and individual owners, and others can be found by visiting the Web sites of landlords and managers of residential buildings.

If one visits the Web site of Glenwood Management, one of New York City's finest developers of market-rate apartments, a prospective tenant would be able to find out that a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment at the Brittany, at 1775 York Avenue, between 92nd and 93rd streets, is available for a net effective rent of $4,670 per month. The apartment has a washer and dryer, nine-foot ceilings and walls of windows.

Another excellent opportunity is available at Glenwood's Bamford at 333 East 56th Street, between First and Second avenues. A two-bedroom apartment with terrace, eat-in kitchen, and a living room over 420 square feet, is now being offered for $4,120 per month, in a building which has a health club and swimming pool.

Further east, an individual condo owner is offering a steep 36 percent discount to a new tenant to rent his two-bedroom, two-bath unit on the 26th floor of 100 United Nations Plaza, near 45th Street and First Avenue. The unit has a balcony, and East River views. A previous tenant paid a monthly rent of $6,200, but now the unit is available for $4,000 a month, plus another bonus -- the developer is offering one free month for a two-year lease.

At the West Side's Concerto, at 200 West 60th Street, between Amsterdam and West End avenues, rent for a three-bedroom, three-bath unit on the 49th floor with a balcony, has been reduced from $7,300 to $5,200 per month.

With the bleak economic outlook expect tenants to have the upper hand in negotiating rents for market-rate apartments.

A 2,848-square-foot apartment on the 38th floor of the tower at 15 Central Park West flipped for $27 million, twice its purchase price but less than its asking price.

The seller of the three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath unit was listed as Coastal Protective Services, which is owned by casino developer Richard Fields. Fields is also chairman and CEO of Coastal Development, a financier of resort, entertainment and gaming properties. He was not immediately available for comment.

The buyer in the sale, which closed December 12, was identified as GZB New York, according to property records published today.

Coastal Protective Services bought the property in June for $13.35 million, the records showed.

The apartment was originally listed for $35 million in September.

Over the last couple of months, a number of new Manhattan hotels have opened, offering great rates, and in some cases good perks, to get visitors to walk through the door.

On December 21, a handful of rooms were made available to visitors at a rate of $195 per night at Andre Balazs' 18-story, 337-room Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District. The room price included complimentary breakfast room-service, wireless Internet access and free local calls. The hotel, at 848 Washington Street, at 13th Street, was erected on pillars over the old High Line.

Hoteliers are responding to market conditions. Room rates have been dropping as the occupancy rate has been declining, according to October data from hotel tracking firm PKF Consulting, and revenues per available room will decline in 2009. The outlook is grim through second-quarter 2010.

Earlier in the month all of the rooms were released at the Thompson LES, a new Lower East Side hotel. The 18-story building, located at 190 Allen Street, and East Houston, has a total of 140 rooms, most of which overlook Allen Street. Average room rates are expected to range from $500 to $600, while promotional rates were available during the Christmas holiday weekend at a daily rate ranging from $219 to $259 per night.

Also this month, the long awaited Cooper Square Hotel opened at 25 Cooper Square and the Bowery in the East Village. The 21-story, 145-room hotel is charging an introductory rate of $275. Rates are expected to go up to $375 in February.

Last month, visitors were able to reserve a room at the Gem Hotel in Chelsea. The new hotel, at 300 West 22nd Street at Eighth Avenue, has 81 rooms. The Gem is part of Choice Hotels' Ascend Collection and according to a recent post on hotelchatter.com, rooms are going for $159 a night until February 28, down $30 from the initial opening rate. Hotelchatter.com noted that the rooms are small, but guests get free in-room wireless Internet access and a complimentary shoe shine.

The same week, Gemini Real Estate Advisors, owners of the Gem Hotel in Chelsea, started operating its newly-acquired 124-room Wyndham Garden Hotel Manhattan Chelsea West, a select-service hotel in the Flatiron District at 37 West 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway.

Home prices in New York City have fallen 7.5 percent since last year and 0.9 percent month-over-month, according to S&P/Case-Shiller Homes Prices Index data released today.

New York City's index value, which measures the average prices of single-family homes within a 50-mile radius of New York City, hit its peak in June 2006 and fell 11.9 percent by October, according to an analysis of October housing sales data.

That puts New York City "very much in the middle of the pack," compared to other cities across the country, where home prices have dropped as much as 30 percent since last year, said Maureen Maitland, vice president of index services at Standard & Poor's. Since the data does not include condo or co-op units, the report primarily reflects home prices in the outer boroughs, Connecticut, New Jersey and Westchester County.

The sales prices of single-family homes across the country plummeted in value through October 2008, the most recent month for which data is available, with 14 of 20 metro areas measured by the report showing record rates of annual decline. Phoenix reported the largest annual decline with 32.7 percent, while Dallas fared the best, with a decline of 3 percent since October of 2007.

While some regions seem to be declining slower than others, none have shown a turnaround, Maitland said.

"Unfortunately, it's not a very happy story," she said. "A lot of people are looking for the beginning of the end, and it's just didn't happen this month."

But for New York at least, there's a silver lining. At 190.04, New York has the highest index value of any city measured by S&P, Maitland said, meaning that homes in New York have held their value better than other areas. The S&P/Case-Shiller indices were set at a value of 100 in January 2000, indicating that the typical single-family home in the New York metropolitan area has appreciated by 90 percent since then. Detroit, where average home prices are lower than they were in 2000, has the lowest index value, with 86.10.

New York is "still 90 percent above 2000 prices," Maitland said, noting that a typical home in the New York area is still worth almost double what it was eight years ago. "[New York City homes have] been able to hang on to a lot of the appreciation that they saw."

The comparatively high value of home prices in New York has to do with the strength of the local economy, she said, and the fact that limited space to build in New York has prevented the inventory overhang seen in Phoenix, Las Vegas and other Sunbelt areas.

But that may change now, with layoffs pending in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown.

"Is New York going to be able to hang on to [home price appreciation]?"she said. "That's a question for the future of New York."