Realty Digest
A Quirky Collection of News and Information
From Malcolm Carter

**** June 2, 2007 ****

Referrals are our bread and butter. Please help us keep the pantry full by letting us know about friends, relatives, neighbors and colleagues at work who may be thinking of moving.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Items of Interest
• Out and Abouts
• New Listings

Items of Interest
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The Market

PRICE APPRECIATION TAPERS OFF, BUT STILL IS POSITIVE: The rate of home price appreciation in the U.S. remained slow but positive in the first quarter of 2007, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). Its House Price Index (HPI), based on data from sales and refinance transactions, was 0.5 percent higher in the first quarter than in the fourth quarter of 2006, moderately below the revised growth estimate of 1.3 percent from the third to the fourth quarters of 2006. Prices in the first quarter of 2007 were 4.3 percent higher than they were in the same quarter in 2006. OFHEO's purchase-only index, which is based solely on purchase price data, indicates less price appreciation for U.S. houses than the HPI does over the past year. The purchase-only index increased 3.0 percent between the first quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 compared with 4.3 percent for the HPI. Commented OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart: "Although some forecasters expected to see a drop in the HPI, nationwide house prices continued to rise in the first quarter of 2007, albeit at the lowest rate in 10 years. As always, real estate prices are local with seven states showing double-digit annual appreciation rates and seven with rates less than 2 percent. Seven states, including Florida and California, also showed home price depreciation in the first quarter." Those states were California (-.84 percent); Florida (-.34 percent); Maine (-.13 percent); Massachusetts (-.47 percent); Michigan (-.2 percent); Nevada (-.52 percent); and West Virginia (-.19 percent). For the first time in seven years, two states - Massachusetts and Michigan - experienced four-quarter price declines. Seven states experienced double-digit appreciation rates between first-quarter 2006 and first-quarter 2007. They were Utah (17.01 percent); Idaho (12.27 percent); Montana (11.68 percent); Wyoming (11.67 percent); Washington (11.63 percent); New Mexico (11.21 percent); and Oregon (10.77 percent).

BERNANKE IS SORT OF RELAXED ABOUT SUBPRIME MARKET: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the financial system can withstand the fallout from the subprime-mortgage market "without serious problems," reports the Wall Street Journal. ". . . Although there is always a possibility for some kind of disruption . . . , the financial system will absorb the losses from the subprime mortgage problems without serious problems," he observed. During a speech to a Chicago Fed gathering, he added that the effects of the subprime market on the broader housing market will likely be limited. "Curbs [on subprime lending] are expected to be a source of some restraint on home purchases and residential investment in coming quarters," Bernanke said in his prepared remarks. "Moreover, we are likely to see further increases in delinquencies and foreclosures this year and next as many adjustable-rate loans face interest-rate resets."

HOUSING STARTS EDGE UP, BUT PERMITS SLIP TO 10-YEAR LOW: Starts bumped up slightly in April, while new building permits dropped to the slowest pace since June 1997, according to the Commerce Department. Housing starts increased 2.5 percent in April; they were down 16.1 percent from a year earlier. Building permits, a more reliable indicator of housing construction activity, dropped 8.9 percent in April and were off 28.1 percent from a year earlier. "The pattern of building permits clearly shows that the dramatic downward correction in housing production still is underway," said Chief Economist David Seiders of the National Association of Home Builders. "Home buyer demand has been sent into another down leg by the abrupt tightening of mortgage lending standards, and there is an increasingly heavy supply of vacant housing units on the market. Under these conditions, builders are cutting back on new construction and intensifying their efforts to bolster sales and limit cancellations."

SALES OF EXISTING HOMES FELL IN THE FIRST QUARTER: Total existing-home sales, including single-family homes and condos, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.41 million units in the first quarter - down 6.6 percent from the first quarter of 2006, reports the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Still, the rate was 2.4 percent higher than the fourth quarter 2006 level of 6.26 million. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia showed increases in the sales pace from a year ago, up from only six states showing gains in the fourth quarter report. Commented Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist: "Essentially, we see that the existing-home market is stabilizing in a broad cyclical trough and moving in the right direction, with a modest gain from the fourth quarter. Conditions changed fairly rapidly during the boom, but we need more patience now to see a slow, gradual recovery, which should start in the second half of this year." In the apartment sector, the national median was $224,500 in the first quarter, up 1 percent from the same quarter in 2006. Twenty-seven metros showed annual increases in the median condo price, including seven areas with double-digit gains; 31 areas had price declines and one was unchanged.

ANOTHER INDEX NOTES A FIRST-QUARTER DECLINE IN THE U.S.: It fell 1.4 percent in the first quarter compared with the same quarter last year, and a separate 20-city index dropped 1.4 percent for March compared with March 2006, according to Inman News. It was the second time in the history of the index that the annual national growth rate was negative; the first time was in 1990-91. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller National U.S. Home Price Index, which tracks the value of single-family housing for the nine U.S. Census divisions, also dropped 0.7 percent in the first quarter compared to fourth-quarter 2006. "The fall of the national index into negative territory, after more than 15 years of positive annual growth, is a reaffirmation of the pullback in the U.S. residential real estate market," said Robert J. Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets. "The national index was yielding solid returns as recently as a year ago." He noted that first-quarter-2006 growth rates were up 11.5 percent compared with first-quarter 2005, "a sharp contrast to the returns we are seeing today."

NEW-HOME SALES SURGE AS MEDIAN PRICE SLUMPS: Sales of new single-family homes increased a surprising 16.2 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 981,000 units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The April sales pace was 10.6 percent below a year earlier. The median price fell to $229,100, a record 11.1 percent decline from the previous month. At the same time, the jump in sales was the biggest since a 16.4 percent increase in April 1993. "We're viewing the large jump in new-home sales for April with a lot of caution, in view of the large month-to-month volatility historically displayed by these statistics," commented Chief Economist David Seiders of the National Association of home Builders (NAHB). "In addition, the April bulge may very well have reflected favorable weather swings, particularly in the South region. It also appears that the aggressive sales techniques being employed by builders are now showing some success, despite the subprime-related difficulties in the mortgage market." He added: "The first quarter may well have marked the low point for sales volume in the dramatic housing correction that began in the latter part of 2005. We are currently looking for a gradual recovery process going forward, at least on a quarterly basis." The inventory of new homes for sale edged down in April to the equivalent of a 6.5 months' supply, down from 8.1 months in March.

The Big Apple

THE TIMES FINDS RAINBOW'S GOLD IN THE WETTEST MONTH: A tabulation of property closings in April and a trickle of closings in May filed with the city's Department of Finance show nary a shadow of the retrenchment in the national real estate market, according to the newspaper of record. Average prices at closings in Manhattan appear to have reached or exceeded the top levels achieved in the spring of 2006. Average prices were higher by 6 percent than prices in the previous quarter. Median prices were up as well, suggesting the middle of the market remains solid, even for those without trust funds, hedge funds or tax shelters. The prices reflect contracts signed in April as well as in earlier months, and brokers say they have not seen signs of slackening in the peak spring season. The tabulation of closing prices identified 23 condominiums and 19 co-ops in Manhattan that sold for $4 million or more in April, the fifth-highest month since mid-2004, but many sales have not yet been recorded by the city.

CONDO AND CO-OP SALES POST A FIRST-QUARTER RECORD: Jonathan J. Miller, CEO of the Miller Samuel appraisal firm notes that a record 3,474 apartments were sold in Manhattan during the first three months of the year. He provided the following chart to Crain's New York Business:

Source: Crain's New York Business

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE FIRST QUARTER: In its first New York City residential sales report, the Real Estate Board of New York found that the average sales price for a New York City apartment in the first quarter 2007 was $745,000 compared with $605,000 last year. The surge in apartment prices was driven by the 10 percent growth in the average Manhattan sales price to $1,107,000, according to the report. Manhattan sales accounted for nearly 54 percent of the total New York City sales versus 40 percent a year earlier. Growth in price and in activity propelled the average New York City price up 23 percent from a year ago. Brooklyn had the second highest average sales price for an apartment, at $441,000, virtually unchanged from a year ago. Though the Bronx had the lowest average sales price for an apartment, at $245,000, it registered a 5 percent increase. Queens and Staten Island had average apartment sales prices of $257,000 and $250,000 respectively, both averages down slightly from last year. The New York City average sales price for one-to-three family dwellings in the first quarter of 2007 was $595,000, a 7 percent increase from last year. Manhattan had the highest average sales price of $3,942,000, typically a townhouse located on the East Side or West Side. Unlike apartments, the number of Manhattan one-to-three family dwelling sales represent less than one percent of the total citywide sales in this category, limiting the impact on the New York City average. Brooklyn registered the second highest average sales price, $643,000. The Queens average sales price was $580,000. The Bronx and Staten Island had average sales prices of $498,000 and $478,000 respectively. Compared with the first quarter last year, every borough registered a price increase - 16 percent in Manhattan, 7 percent in Brooklyn and the Bronx, 4 percent in Queens, and 3 percent in Staten Island.

A CONDO BOARD CAVES IN REGARDING THE MENTALLY DISABLED: An upper Manhattan condo board that barred the sale of two apartments after learning that mentally disabled adults would be moving in has reversed itself after losing key decisions in a federal housing-discrimination lawsuit, says the New York Post. The about-face by the Bennett's board let the sale close this week. It came after Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in March: "It's really not tolerable in New York City in the United States at this point in time to stand in the way of this sale." The dispute began last summer when the nonprofit YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities agreed to pay a private owner $1.3 million for two adjoining units at the Bennett, on West 187th Street in Washington Heights. In September, the Bennett's board told YAI that the sale violated its bylaws and that it had procured two other buyers. Lawyer Richard Marin said there were concerns about the number moving in, not about their disabilities, as claimed in YAI's suit, filed in December. In March, Hellerstein denied the Bennett's motion to dismiss the suit, effectively ordering the sale through.

HOME OWNERSHIP IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH: One in three New York City households now owns their dwellings, according to a new analysis of census results, says the New York Times. And the number of homes and apartments occupied by their owners has passed one million for the first time. The rate of homeownership increased more from 2000 to 2005 than during all of the 1990s, according to the analysis, conducted by Queens College demographers. In 1990, 28.7 percent of New Yorkers owned their homes, according to the census figures. In 2000, 30.2 percent did, and five years later, 33.2 percent were homeowners. "It is my understanding that 33 percent is a record high for the city," said Vicki Been, director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University. The increases spanned all major racial and ethnic groups in the city, and the steepest jumps occurred in some of the poorest neighborhoods: the South Bronx, Central Harlem, the Lower East Side, Washington Heights and Brownsville, Brooklyn. In each of those, the proportion of property owners had risen by more than 70 percent since 1990. Since 1990, the rate of homeownership among black New Yorkers has risen to 28 percent from 21 percent; among Hispanics, to 16 percent from 12 percent; among Asians, to 40 percent from 31 percent; and among non-Hispanic whites, to 44 percent from 38 percent. The number of foreign-born owners is up, too. In 2005, 40 percent of New York's homeowners were born outside the United States; in 1990, 30 percent of them were. But the analysis also found that rent consumed a higher proportion of household income in 2005 than in 1990, while the increased costs for homeowners climbed even more steeply. In 1990, 15 percent of homeowners were spending 35 percent or more of their income on housing. By 2005, 32 percent of owners were. Details: click here.

GAP IN HOUSING EXPENSES NARROWS AMONG CITIES: New Yorkers spent the most on housing at $20,065 annually, but that was only $154 a year, about $13 a month, more than the typical Los Angeles household spent and $1,103 more than the typical Chicago household spent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics in the New York Times. The narrowing gap in housing costs in 2004 and 2005 did not surprise Edward E. Leamer, director of the U.C.L.A. Anderson Forecast, because, he said, "L.A. home prices have doubled in the last four years." The average household income in the New York metropolitan area was $74,851, about one-third higher than the national average, $56,593. In Chicago, household income averaged $67,726 and in Los Angeles, $65,810.

Boldface

COSTAS HITS IT OUT OF THE PARK: Sportscaster Bob Costas and his wife Jill have agreed to pay about $10 million for an apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side, reports the Wall Street Journal. The three-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot apartment is in Fifteen Central Park West, where his neighbors in the nearly completed building include actor Denzel Washington, musician Sting and race-car driver Jeff Gordon. Developers Arthur and William Zeckendorf recently announced they had sold all of the building's 202 units. Fifteen apartments sold for more than $20 million, including an eight-bedroom penthouse to hedge-fund executive Daniel Loeb for $45 million, believed to be a record for a New York condo.

‘AUSTIN POWERS' SCORES A PENTHOUSE: After a two-year search, Mike Myers has finally found a swinging downtown bachelor pad, says the New York Post. The "Austin Powers" and "Wayne's World" star has just signed a contract to buy a six-room loft-style penthouse in SoHo for $7.95 million. Measuring just over 4,200 square feet, the new-construction duplex condo at 72 Mercer St. includes three bedrooms, four bathrooms, 15-foot ceilings in the living room and dining area, a separate great room, two balconies and a 1,368-square-foot private rooftop terrace.

DE LA HOYA SELLS RETREAT TO TITO ORTIZ: Boxer Oscar De La Hoya has sold his California retreat and training facility to "ultimate fighter" Tito Ortiz for $2.1 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. The gated property of just over an acre is in Big Bear Lake, a resort community in the San Bernardino National Forest, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. It has a main house, a three-bedroom guest house and a four-car garage that De La Hoya used as a gym.

STONE IS STUCK NO MORE: At long last, steely Dateline co-anchor Stone Phillips has sold his triplex penthouse at the Oliver Cromwell, an 80-year-old Central Park West co-op, says the New York Observer. First listed in the fall of 2005 for $5.5 million, his six-room apartment sold for $4,350,000, according to public records. The 27th-floor triplex features three large high-definition televisions, plus flat-screens in the floor-heated kitchen, the top-floor dressing room and master bathroom. The wainscoted 25.5-foot-long dining room has leather-paneled walls, and the planted, 300-square-foot terrace off the middle floor boasts an outdoor sound system. Phillips and his wife Debra, a New York social worker, have reportedly purchased a $4.4 million, 4,100-square-foot loft on West 19th Street. Who knew social work was so remunerative?

MRS. TONY RANDALL HAS PUT HER PLACE ON THE MARKET: Heather Randall is asking $17.5 million for the Manhattan apartment she shared with her late husband, says the Wall Street Journal. The co-op apartment, on the sixth floor of the Beresford on Central Park West, includes four bedrooms, a library and a dining room. Banks of windows face the park to the east and the Museum of Natural History to the south.

SOUTH CAROLINA WASN'T HIS ONLY HOME: The late James Brown also kept an apartment on the Upper East Side that has just come on the market, reports New York magazine. The surprisingly modest three-bedroom apartment at Third Avenue at 67th Street - carries a price under a million and a half dollars. The Godfather of Soul is said to have lived there from the late seventies through the early eighties, during which time his career started to recover from disco-induced malaise.

THE POST PUBLISHER PLANTS A FOOT IN MANHATTAN: That's the Washington Post, where Mary and Donald Graham, who is chairman of the Washington Post Co., have paid $4.65 million for a pied-à-terre at 262 Central Park West, notes the New York Observer. The six-and-a-half-room, 2,000-square-foot co-op with 10 windows on Central Park is in a 1929 building called, of course, the White House. "I think it's important to say that we continue to be a devoted Washington family," Ms. Graham allowed, "and we're not selling anything in Washington."

Research

THE AFFLUENT OWE MUCH OF WEALTH TO REAL ESTATE: Fewer than 20 percent of all U.S. households are affluent, yet that group controls nearly half of all aggregate income, according to a new report from Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, says Realtor magazine. A major component of their wealth: residential real estate. Nearly 21 million households fall into an affluent category - singles earning at least $75,000 and households with more than one adult earning at least $100,000 - and wield an aggregate income of $3.6 trillion. Eighty-seven percent of the affluent own their own home; on average, households with an annual income of $150,000 or more live in a house worth more than $550,000, according to the report. They're likely to be married with comparatively large families and live in the Northeast and Pacific regions. Compared with the general population, affluent households are more likely to depend on multiple wage earners. Also higher than the general population is the number of self-employed: 10.6 percent of all affluent households and 15.3 percent of the super affluent.

SAN DIEGO POSSESSES A DUBIOUS DISTINCTION: It's the most overpriced housing market, according to Forbes magazine, which has calculated what it considers the most such markets by estimating a "price-to-earnings" (P/E) ratio for each of the 40 largest metro areas. It was figured by dividing each market's median home price by annual rents minus taxes and insurance, reports Realtor magazine. The average P/E for the 40 markets is 28. The magazine also incorporated an affordability score based on how many residents pulling down a median income could afford to buy a property assuming a 6 percent mortgage rate. And the winners (losers?) following San Diego are, in order: Miami, Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Honolulu, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Boston and San Jose.

LANDLORDS ARE BUOYANT: Strengthening demand and steady increases in occupancy levels in rental apartments with five or more units buoyed multifamily builder confidence in the first quarter of 2007, and the next six months are expected to be even better, according to the latest ultifamily Rental Market Index (MRMI) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). "We've seen the national vacancy rate for rental apartment communities drop more than two percent between the first quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "Despite some competition from unsold condo units that have come onto the market as rentals in recent months, demand is still outpacing supply for rental apartments."

BUT BUILDER CONFIDENCE IN THE CONDO MARKET WANES: It eroded significantly in the first quarter of 2007, according to the latest results of the Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI), which was released by National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The component of the MCMI that tracks current conditions in the condo market stood at 23.1, down nearly 14 points from this time a year ago. "There's heavy excess inventory and now the shakeout in the subprime mortgage market has taken its toll on the for-sale side of the multifamily housing market," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "The good news is new supply is being constrained, and that's laying the groundwork for the subsequent recovery." Talk about a silver lining! Seiders noted that, in many instances, multifamily developers who had begun for-sale projects are switching gears and delivering new rental apartment communities instead.

IF YOU DON'T TRUST THE INDEX ABOVE, READ ON: The rate of residential construction spending fell behind its year-ago level in April despite inching up from March, the U.S. Census Bureau reported, according to Inman News. Last month's $1.19 billion seasonally adjusted rate of onstruction spending was 2 percent lower than the April 2006 estimate but up slightly from March's estimate of $1.18 billion.

The Mortgage Biz

EVEN GOOD CREDIT MAY NOT EASE MORTGAGE HASSLES: Mortgage lenders are beginning to scrutinize borrowers more closely, causing some loan applicants, even those with good credit, to face higher costs and more hassles, reports the Wall Street Journal. As the number of delinquent mortgages climbs, lenders have tightened their standards for issuing loans, including such well-publicized moves as raising minimum credit scores and cutting back on 100 percent financing and low-documentation loans. Now, some lenders are probing more intently would-be borrowers' finances. They are taking a tougher look at how much the property a borrower wants to buy is worth. They are peering further into clients' pasts for credit problems and requiring more in-depth reviews of borrowers who say they are self-employed. Some lenders are taking a harder stance when it comes to whose credit score a couple can use when applying for a mortgage, rather than simply allowing them to use the higher of the two scores.

MORTGAGE FRAUD CONTINUES TO RISE: The Mortgage Asset Research Institute says reports of mortgage fraud rose 30 percent for loans made in 2006 compared with those made in 2005, according to the New York Times. The report also warned that it might take three to five years to uncover the full extent of fraud that occurred in loans made last year. Likewise, the number of fraud cases reported to the F.B.I. soared to 35,000 last year, from 7,000 in 2003. Firms that track mortgage fraud say it costs banks and lenders more than $4 billion a year. From coast to coast, these frauds often work the same way: Buyers gain control of properties at a low price and then sell them quickly at a big profit, rigging the game every step of the way by procuring bogus property appraisals and using false or stolen identities to obtain mortgages.

LOAN APPLICATIONS NOSEDIVE: For the week ended May 25, the number of loan applications fell by 7.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, reports the Mortgage Bankers Association. On an unadjusted basis, the decrease was 7.4 percent compared with the previous week, but volume was up 17 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. Refinancings dropped 13 percent from the previous week, while purchase activity slipped by 2.5 percent. The refinance share of mortgage activity declined to 39.7 percent of total applications from 42.3 percent, and the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share dropped to 17.7 from 18.1 percent.

MORTGAGE RATES ARE ON THE RISE: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.42 percent with for the week, up from last week's 6.37 percent but lower than the 6.67 percent recorded last year at this time, according to Freddie Mac. The 15-year FRM this week was 6.12 percent in comparison with 6.06 percent the previous week and 6.26 percent a year ago. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.19 percent this week, up from last week's 6.02 percent. A year ago, it was 6.26 percent. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 5.57 percent this week, down from 5.64 percent last week and 5.68 percent in 2006. "Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages increased further this week following stronger growth in orders for durable goods," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist."

This and That

CAN YOU BEAT THIS: Ron Baron, founder of the Baron Funds investment company, has paid a record $103 million for a residential property in East Hampton, N.Y., proclaims USA Today. And the price doesn't even include the cost of the house he wants to build. The price - equal to what Texas plans to spend on border security this year - tops a record set in 2004, when Revlon Chairman Ronald Perelman sold his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., for $70 million to Dwight Schar of builder NVR.

IS RELOCATION IN YOUR FUTURE: If so, consider be clear on the details of the company's relocation policy before accepting the job and don't be afraid to ask for what you want. Also, know the tax implications involved since a majority of a relocation package can be considered taxable income. Flexible relocation policies might allow an employee to substitute one expense for another, customizing the package to suit the individual's needs. For example, candidates might negotiate a lump-sum package if they'd rather hold on to their home until the local real-estate market improves.

THE DEPARTMENT OF DUBIOUS DISTINCTION: Miami has the rudest drivers, according to the annual Driver's Seat Road Rage Survey, commissioned by auto club AutoVantage, notes Realtor magazine. This is the second year Miami claimed the road rage top spot, followed by New York City, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The most courteous cities with the least road rage were: Portland, Ore., Pittsburgh, Seattle/Tacoma, St. Louis and Dallas/Ft. Worth. The survey defined road rage as angry or upset drivers, including out-of-control drivers and drivers who lose their temper, plus bad or aggressive driving, including bad/careless/crazy and/or rude driving, cutting into lanes, cutting people off, tailgating, speeding and/or honking.

THERE'S A CLOUD OVER FLORIDA: As dozens of condominium towers conceived during the state's real estate boom near completion, investors who snatched up units in the preconstruction phase in hopes of turning a quick profit are increasingly trying to break contracts, even walking away from fat deposits, reports the New York Times. "Motivated" sellers are flooding online forums like Craigslist with advertisements for condo units still months or years from being finished. And lawyers have been inundated with calls from people hoping to avoid closing on units they bought during the speculative craze of 2004 and 2005. "I get two or three of these calls a day," said James Ryan, a lawyer in Boca Raton who said he had 40 clients looking to get out of condo contracts. In Miami-Dade County alone, 8,000 new condo units will be completed this year and nearly 12,000 more in 2008. But demand has dropped markedly, and people who thought they could "flip" condos are parting with that fantasy. After years of stunning price increases - 25 percent in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area, for example, from March 2005 to March 2006 - condo prices have started dropping. Condominiums in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton sold for a median price of $211,800 in March, down from $224,600 a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. As a result, many buyers want out - not an easy prospect unless they are willing to forfeit the 10 percent or 20 percent they put down, from $15,000 for an inexpensive studio unit to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a waterfront penthouse.

YOUNG AS THEY ARE, THEY'RE BUYING RETIREMENT HOMES: Such sales are growing among buyers still decades away from retiring, reports the Wall Street Journal. From the Catskill Mountains to Oregon's rocky coast, younger couples who might otherwise be focused on building a nest egg instead are buying a lakefront house or country cabin that they hope to one day use in retirement. They're crunching the numbers and making hard decisions about their personal finances. In some cases, they're receiving an inheritance or a stock grant and are choosing to invest in their future real-estate needs rather than the stock market. In other cases, they're altering their expectations about how long they'll work and the kind of returns they'll earn on their nest egg in order to pursue an emotional investment. No one knows how many younger buyers are out snapping up their retirement homes. But real-estate agents and financial planners around the country say they're increasingly assisting younger buyers spending $100,000 to $500,000 for a house to call home in retirement.

Home and Hearth

THOSE HOUSEPLANTS MAY NEED YOUR ATTENTION NOW: Most houseplants begin active growth in the spring, which makes this the ideal time to repot them, observes the Washington Post. Look for signs of root crowding - roots growing out of the drainage hole or over the lip of the pot. In extreme cases, bottom root growth will raise the plant up noticeably. In addition, a root-bound plant will need watering repeatedly because of the increased ratio of roots to soil. Turn the pot and plant upside down, ease the root ball from the container and see if root growth is excessive. On large or stubborn plants, run a knife around the inner surface of the pot and have a helper hold the lip of the pot while you remove the plant. A noticeable buildup of fertilizer salts on the sides of the pot, and salts or moss on the soil surface, suggests a need for a fresh growing medium and a repotting. And if you are tired of the old pot and want to treat yourself to something nicer, now is the time to do that.

Insurance

WHAT IF YOUR CLOTHES GET RUINED FOR YOUR EVENT: Event insurance is designed to protect you from financial loss if something costly goes horribly wrong during a host of events - from anniversaries, baby showers and baptisms to quinceañeras, retirement parties and wedding parties, including those held in your home, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Major providers, including Private Event Insurance, Fireman's Fund, Travelers and Wedsafe say there's much small print to read: The coverage is focused and it's subject to specific conditions, exclusions, limits, restrictions and deductibles. But the one-time premium offers a host of protections, including: missing people such as a photographer, videographer, guest speaker or other key personage. Clothing and weather issues also can be covered.

Out and About
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This Is One Pot That Melts

Ah Chelsea. For decades in the 20th century, it was said to be on the cusp of change, meaning that its desirability was about to increase dramatically. Year after year, such was the promise of the neighborhood. Its promise was a long time coming, indeed, heralded by an influx of art galleries and gay residents, among others. That was then.

Its location puts Chelsea south of Hells Kitchen and the Garment District, north of Greenwich Village and north to northeast of the Meatpacking District - roughly from 39th to 15th streets between the Hudson River and Fifth Avenue. By one account, the area is named after the London neighborhood that predates it by countless decades. But Wikipedia says Chelsea takes its name from the Federal-style house of the Moore family, named after the manor of Chelsea, which was home to Sir Thomas Moore. Another source says British Army Capt. Thomas Clark named his sprawling estate after London's Royal Chelsea Hospital, a home for old soldiers, after he purchased the plot in 1730.

The house was the birthplace in 1779 of Clement Clarke Moore, who is more often credited with "A Visit from St. Nicholas," which he may have written, than with the first Greek and Hebrew lexicons printed in the United States, which he certainly wrote.

"Chelsea" stood surrounded by its gardens on a full block between Ninth and Tenth avenues south of 23rd Street until high-quality row houses were constructed in the mid-19th century. The former rural charm of the neighborhood was tarnished by the freight railroad right-of-way of the Hudson River Railroad, which laid its tracks up Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in 1847 and separated Chelsea from the Hudson River waterfront. Clement Clarke Moore gave the land of his apple orchard for the General Theological Seminary, which built its brownstone Gothic tree-shaded campus south on the property.

By 1900, the neighborhood was solidly Irish and housed the longshoremen who unloaded freighters at warehouse piers that lined the waterfront and the truck terminals integrated with the raised freight railroad spur. Later, Chelsea was an early center for the motion picture industry. Some of Mary Pickford's first pictures were made on the top floors of an armory building on West 26th Street. The film On the Waterfront recreates this tough world, dramatized in the 1936 jazz ballet Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Today, the TV series Law and Order often can be seen shooting street scenes in the area.

A neighborhood defined for many years by its all inclusive attitude and its landmark hotel (the Chelsea Hotel, which has housed rock stars, writers and composers including include Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas, O. Henry, Virgil Thomson and, most infamously, Sid Vicious), is now one of the city's hottest zip codes. It also has become an archetype of the melting pot. Eighth Avenue is a center for gay culture, though many in that population are beginning to migrate north to Clinton; their presence is personified by the stereotypical, gym-toned "Chelsea boys."

Chelsea is primarily residential with a mix of tenements, apartment blocks and rehabilitated warehousing, and its many businesses reflect that; ethnic restaurants, delicatessens and clothing boutiques are plentiful. Tekserve, the vast computer repair shop that strongly influenced Apple's Retail Store and Genius Bar concept, serves nearby Silicon Alley and the area's large creative community. Chelsea is home to the somewhat well known Graffiti Research Lab as well. There are many new developments in the neighborhood, including a new building built by Frank Gehry.
Of course, Chelsea has become a center of the New York art scene, as an increasing number of art galleries, paying historically high rights, have moved there from SoHo; some dealers have opened two or even three galleries there. From 16th Street to 27th streets, between 10th and 11th Avenues, there are more than 200 art galleries that are home to modern art from upcoming artists and respected artists as well.

Above 23rd Street, by the Hudson River, most of Chelsea is still industrialized, and the old High Line railroad tracks, being transformed into a park, follow the river all through the neighborhood. From 20th to 22nd street between Ninth and Tenth avenues, historic brownstones built more than a hundred years ago are still being used.

Among its landmarks:

• The Chelsea Piers were the city's primary luxury cruise terminal from 1910 until 1935. The Titanic was headed to Pier 60 at the piers, and the Carpathia brought survivors to Pier 54 in the complex. The northern piers are now part of a popular entertainment and sports complex.
• The entire Hudson River waterfront from 59th Street to the Battery including most of associated piers is now a combination state and city park undergoing a massive renovation
• The London Terrace apartment complex on West 23rd Street was one of the world's largest apartment blocks when it opened in 1930 with a swimming pool, solarium, gymnasium and doormen dressed as London Bobbies.
• Penn South is a large limited-equity housing cooperative built by the United Housing Foundation and financed by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union covering six city blocks between Eight and Ninth Avenues and 23rd and 29th streets.

Not surprisingly, the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and later expanded to include contiguous blocks containing particularly significant examples of period architecture in 1982.

Well, Chelsea has arrived, and many of those who pioneered its changes now mourn its ongoing transformation. Here come the banks, chain stores and even more sleek new loftily priced apartments. Eighth Avenue is on its way to becoming the new old Columbus Avenue and new old West Broadway. It is different, to be sure. Whether it is a good change or a bad one depends on your point of view.

Here is a sample of high-priced Chelsea listings by various brokers seen since the last issue:

• A duplex penthouse with three bedrooms and baths, 11-foot ceilings, pre-finished hardwood floors, three skylights and closed views of other buildings. The 31' x 32' terrace with massive built-in gas barbecue is pleasant, if unsuited for uninhibited sunbathing. In a much-desired full-service building with garage near Whole Foods, the condo has decent closet space, washer/dryer and an airy feeling. The asking price is $3.55 million with $1,001 monthly.
• A dramatically designed condo in a newly converted, turreted, cast-iron building constructed in 1887. This 2,057-sf apartment boasts 14-foot ceilings, oversized windows, original columns, lovely mahogany floors, stylish kitchen, extra-storage room on its floor, crown molding and customized closets. For all its square footage, the loft has just two bedrooms as well as two and a half baths. There also is a washer/dryer hookup, though why the developer did not undertake the expense of adding those appliances is a mystery. The price: $3.35 million with $1,155 monthly.
• Still in the last stages of development, a 1911 onetime factory in which a 532-sf third-floor studio is on the market for $685,000 and a 1,565-sf seventh-floor two-bedroom, two-bath unit is listed at $2 million. The model apartment is an872-sf, one-bedroom apartment with exquisite finishes and somewhat awkward flow. With typically high ceilings, this loft has wide solid-walnut floors, custom-made bathroom sinks and vanities, teak kitchen cabinets, stone tile and classy crystal white stone countertops in the stunning open kitchen. The asking price for the same apartment on the sixth floor is $1.130 million.
• A loft that has 3,329 square feet depending on how you count. On the main floor, where the ceilings rise as high as 16 feet, there are three bedrooms, two and a half baths and 2,546 square feet. There are 713 square feet on what is called the mezzanine - because the ceiling is too low to qualify as a room. And there is a 70-sf storage room in the basement. In addition, a 170-sf terrace is long, narrow and forbidding since it is up against another building's side wall; the "view" is only marginally helped by a tall bamboo fence. The kitchen is the usual upscale open affair with stainless and granite. For this, you are asked to pay $3.5 million with common charges of $2,100 monthly.
• A thoughtfully executed loft in a converted pre-war building at the eastern fringe of the neighborhood and close to Gramercy Park. This 1,900-sf condo includes three bedrooms, three baths, abundant closet space, excellent finishes, top-end open kitchen and mostly unobstructed views from its 11th floor corner location. Price: $3.2 million with $1,502 in common charges each month.
  Below, some listings on the Upper West Side that various brokers are marketing:
• A renovated pre-war co-op near Riverside Drive with one bedroom and bath, good closets, nice open kitchen, modest area for dining, hardwood floors and views only of the front courtyard in a pet-friendly building with a part-time doorman and extra storage. The price is on target at $659,000 with $676 in monthly maintenance.
• On Central Park West, an appealing two-bedroom, two-bath co-op with a handsome, top-of-the-line, center-island kitchen and formal dining room. The pet-friendly 1888 building has a live-in super but no doorman, and there are no views of Central Park. The apartment is listed at $1.595 million with maintenance of $1,562 per month.
• A one-bedroom condo with an open east exposure, cheaply renovated eat-in kitchen, modest closet space and hardwood floors in a building two blocks from an express subway stop with part-time doorman, communal storage and live-in super. At $735,000 with common charges of $449, this place is priced too high by the speculator who undertook to improve and flip it.
• With two bedrooms, one bath, a dining room and good proportions, a way overpriced pre-war co-op that has high beamed ceilings, built-in bookshelves, nice original details and okay closet space. Price: $1.35 million with monthly maintenance of $1,147.
• Near Central Park, a two-bedroom co-op with spacious dining room that has been smartly renovated in both senses of the word. An excellent open kitchen provides a loft-like ambience to this apartment, which has a great layout, generous closet space, a washer/dryer, beautiful flooring and sunny southern views in a building with full-time doorman, live-in super and extra storage. In this case, the asking price of $1.35 million is correct.

Elsewhere in Manhattan:

• A one-bedroom penthouse on the Upper East Side that is all about its 700-sf wraparound terrace. Up a flight of stairs from the last floor served by an elevator, this quaint co-op near the Metropolitan Museum of Art has four exposures, high ceilings, many built-ins and an unimpressive amount of indoor living space. Not for everyone, but doubtless desirable for a small segment of the market, the apartment is priced at $799,000 with maintenance of $1,730. Too much.
• In a tony Murray Hill building, a three-bedroom, three-bath pre-war condo that contains a not-quite formal dining room, adjacent as it is to a merely decent open kitchen, beamed ceilings, new windows, large closets, wood-burning fireplace and a pleasant entrance gallery. In very good condition with very good light, this 1,800-sf apartment in a pet-friendly building is priced a bit high at $2.675 million with $1,652 in monthly common charges.
• Also in the Murray Hill neighborhood, a south-facing one-bedroom apartment with a serviceably small improved kitchen, renovated marble bath and two walk-in closets in a pet-friendly pre-war building that has a 24-hour elevator operator. The living/dining area is commendably spacious, but the living room part is sunken on most of two sides, making for potential perilous passage for the unwary person who would skirt it. Still, it's a nice enough place, priced at $699,000 with maintenance of $1,052.
• On the far east side of Carnegie Hill, a two-bedroom apartment, thanks to conversion of the dining area into a place to sleep. This post-war one-time one-bedroom apartment has the virtue of high-floor open views toward Queens and the curse of an oppressively enclosed and outdated kitchen. Assets include an otherwise spacious feeling, Miele washer and dryer, good closets, one and a half baths and a balcony in a building with a parking garage, storage space and full service. The 960-sf condo is offered at a reduced and reasonable $1.09 million with $667 in monthly common charges.

New Listings
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