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

**** May 12, 2007 ****

Delving the depths of real estate may well fail to enthrall you on a holiday weekend, so the next Digest will surface after Memorial Day. Do have a great start to the summer season and please don't forget to screen that sun!

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Items of Interest
• Out and Abouts
• New Listings

Items of Interest
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This and That

LIVE BIGGER ELSEWHERE, BUT BETTER IS QUESTIONABLE: Check out Forbes magazine for its chronicle of $1 million homes in 25 markets around the country. In the Indianapolis area, for example, a buyer could snag a 1912 mansion boasting 11,000 square feet of total space and 18 rooms for that sum, notes Realtor magazine. In Grand Forks, N.D., $1.3 million will buy seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms in an 8,650-square-foot home on nearly five acres of land. A buyer in Omaha, Neb., might pay $975,000 for a 5,162-square-foot five-bedroom, six-bathroom house on 12 acres, including a swimming pool. At the other end of the scale, $1 million could purchase in Greenwich Village a 1,125-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with parquet floors, according to Forbes. The building has a garage and a doorman and allows pets. And in Honolulu, $1 million will buy a 3,800-square-foot property in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of Honolulu with mountain views, four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

YOU CAN SAVE ON TAXES AGAIN. AND AGAIN: There is no limit in Internal Revenue Code 121 to the number of $250,000 principal-residence-sale exemptions if each co-owner qualifies, Robert J. Bruss reminds readers of the Washington Post. However, when the co-owners are not husband and wife, then all their names must be on the title at least 24 of the 60 months before the sale, and the property must be the principal residence of each owner for the required 24 of the last 60 months before sale. An example would be three sisters who own and occupy their principal residence for the required minimum time before selling, thus qualifying for up to $750,000 in tax-free sales profits.

IF COMMUTING'S YOUR THING, HERE'S WHERE TO LIVE: Living in the suburbs of the largest cities in the Northeast doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive, finds BusinessWeek.com and Sperling's Best Places, according to Realtor magazine. They've identified suburbs that offer better-than-average schools and lower-than-average crime rates, a manageable commute and a price tag that isn't shocking. With their median home prices, they are: Arden-Brandywine, Del. (Philadelphia, 26.9 miles), $355,500; Chelmsford, Mass. (Boston, 27.1 miles), $412,100; Columbia, Md. (Baltimore, 18 miles), $350,800; Coraopolis-Moon Township, Pa. (Pittsburgh, 13.7 miles), $165,500; East Islip, N.Y. (New York, 50.4 miles), $496,400; Fruitville, Pa. (Baltimore, about 55 miles), $139,200; Gaithersburg, Md. (Washington, D.C., 21 miles), $353,400; Getzville, N.Y. (Buffalo, 9 miles), $207,000; Kendall Park, N.J. (New York, 48.6 miles), $433,000; and Livingston, N.J. (New York, 28.3 miles), $552,300.

The Big Apple

SEASONAL MARKETS MAY BE FADING: While brokers have long counted on a seasonal pattern, statistics show it hasn't existed - at least in recent years, according to Real Deal. An examination of quarterly sales data from appraisal firm Miller Samuel shows that the past seven years fail to exhibit seasonal increases in both the second and fourth quarters. In fact, in 2000, 2001 and 2006, there was a decrease in the number of sales in the second quarter when compared with the previous quarter. In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, there was a decrease in the number of sales in the fourth quarter when compared with the third. "There's an argument to be made that during the housing boom, the proverbial two-hump camel (the 'humps' being sales spikes in spring and fall) started fading," says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. "Swings in interest and mortgage rates caused the high season to extend and we had some record summers."

UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS: Complaints for after-hours construction work skyrocketed 870 percent between 2001 and 2006, according to data obtained by The Post. Spurred on by the construction boom and the ease of using the 311 system, complaints rose from 635 in 2001 to 6,160 in 2006. At the same time, the number of violations written by city inspectors increased only from 59 in 2001 to 249 last year. Between Jan. 1 and April 16 this year, there were 1,736 complaints resulting in 76 violations. Current regulations permit construction work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., although variances are given. On July 1, when the city puts a new noise code into effect, contractors will have to create a "noise mitigation plan" for each work site. The fine is typically $875 for a first violation and up to $4,200 for a third offense. In 2006, it took city inspectors an average 39.8 days to respond to a complaint - still an improvement over 65.8 days in 2001.

SUBPRIME IMPACT ON MANHATTAN TO BE SLIGHT: The subprime lending industry's meltdown may have a slight impact on Manhattan mortgages, but it won't affect New York as much as it has other areas, the Real Deal reports. Some market watchers believe newfound restraint by lenders will affect the mortgage market as a whole, meaning borrowers looking for prime loans at lower rates could have a tougher time finding money for home loans. If that happens, it might start to pressure Manhattan mortgage activity. Prudential Douglas Elliman chief executive Dottie Herman said it has already started to crimp buyers' ability to borrow money to buy homes. "Credit tightening will be the most important thing to watch over the next year," added Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. "When you place more restrictions on a sale, you temper the amount of transactions that may occur. In a robust market like ours at the moment, it likely won't have much of an impact, but in a depressed market, the effect is compounded significantly." Only 1.1 percent of Manhattan home loans were subprime in 2005, the last year for which data was available, according New York University's Furman Center.

IF YOU'RE SINGLE AND LIVE HERE, DON'T MOVE AWAY: According to Bert Sperling, who is profiled in the New York Times as "the guy who picks the best places to live," New York City tops the list for singles. Following in order are Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston and San Francisco. To find out why, and much more, check out the second edition of "Cities Ranked & Rated: More Than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. & Canada", 850 pages that Sperling wrote with Peter Sander, which has now thudded onto bookstore shelves.

FOR THE IRISH, IT'S A FEEDING FRENZY IN NYC: In some cases, entire buildings or large blocks of apartments in unfinished high-rises are being sold to Irish investors hungry to own a piece of New York City, reports the New York Times. After a long economic boom that earned their country the nickname "the Celtic Tiger," the Irish are flush with cash and searching the globe for places to invest it. Of course, people from all over the world have been contributing to the sustained demand for apartments in Manhattan. But developers and brokers said the Irish seem to be the voracious newcomers of the moment, though their purchases have drawn less attention than previous buying sprees by the Japanese and the Saudis, who made splashes by acquiring trophy properties like Rockefeller Center and the Plaza Hotel. "Because of the weak dollar, we're seeing a lot of European buyers and it just seems like there's a disproportionate amount from Ireland," said Jonathan J. Miller, president of the Miller Samuel appraisal firm. At the heart of this investment surge lies some simple math, brokers said. With the dollar at historically low levels against the euro and the British pound, apartments generally cost less in Manhattan than in Dublin or London. But they still rent for more in Manhattan.

Boldface

FOR THIS NEWSMAN, ROOMS WITH A VIEW: Keith Olbermann has bought a sprawling 40th-floor apartment in an Upper East Side Trump condominium, reports the Observer. According to public records, the host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann host paid $4.2 million, the exact asking price for the five-room apartment. The 31½-foot-long living room, master bedroom and den have balconies. The former sportscaster now can also boast a chef's kitchen, plus twin walk-in closets and "two and a half beautiful marble bathrooms."

WILL LENNY KRAVITZ MAKE UP HIS MIND ALREADY: After five years on and off the market, the rock star has once again put his penthouse apartment on the market - at a $6.5 million markup, says the Wall Street Journal. Now he is asking $19.5 million for the nearly 6,000-square-foot condominium in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. He bought the apartment in 2000 for about $8 million and first listed it two years later. He pulled the property off the market last year, when it was being listed for $12.95 million. The five-bedroom duplex apartment is "newly redesigned and renovated" and has a media room, sunroom and foyer with suspended glass staircase, according to the property listing. The unit also has about 3,000 square feet of outdoor space, including a terrace with a fireplace and a hot tub, plus a roof deck with a built-in barbecue. The Crosby Street building, a former paper factory converted in 2000, has been home to other celebrities, including rock star Courtney Love, who sold her apartment there for $5 million last year.

RICKY MARTIN DOES IT ONE MORE TIME: Puerto Rico's top-selling musical artist is buying again in New York City, reports the New York Post, which quotes sources as saying that Ricky Martin is paying around $7 million for a souped-up three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath condo with a great room, a gourmet eat-in kitchen, a dining room and a study off the master suite at Ian Schrager's 40 Bond development in NoHo. The 2,637-square-foot residence features 11-foot ceilings, oak floors and doors, and a master bath with something called a "wet room." The 35-year-old singer - who's now on a nationwide concert tour - sold his 65th-floor apartment in the south tower of the Time Warner Center last October for $9.75 million. The former Menudo member bought the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath Midtown condo in 2004 for $6.832 million.

The Market

THE SECOND-HOME MARKET SHRINKS SLIGHTLY IN 2006: A steep drop in investment-home sales last year led to an overall decline in second-home transactions, despite a record-breaking year for vacation properties, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Second-home sales - including vacation and investment properties - accounted for 36 percent of all home transactions in 2006, down from 40 percent in 2005. Investment-home sales dropped a hefty 28.9 percent from 2005, while vacation-home sales rose 4.7 percent to a record. In terms of market share, 22 percent of all homes purchased last year were for investment, down from a 28 percent in 2005. Another 14 percent were vacation homes, up from a 12 percent in 2005. "We expected the drop in investment sales because speculators left the market in 2006, which caused investment sales to fall much faster than the primary market," commented NAR Chief Economist David Lereah. "The rise in vacation-home sales is based on strong demographic and lifestyle factors, with only modest interest in renting their properties to others."

INDICATOR OF MARKET STRENGTH NOSEDIVES: Pending home sales, a forward-looking indicator, show sales closed in April are likely to remain soft, with some drag possible in May as well, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index was down 10.5 percent from March 2006 and 4.9 percent from February. The index was the lowest since March 2003.

U.S. VACANCIES REACH RECORD LEVEL IN THE FIRST QUARTER: The national homeowner vacancy rate reached 2.8 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau reports, adding that the home-ownership rate dipped slightly to 68.4 percent, according to Inman News. The homeowner vacancy rate - a gauge of the number of unoccupied units for sale versus the total homeowner inventory - was 2.1 percent in first-quarter 2006 and has risen for seven consecutive quarters. The home-ownership rate hit a high of 69.2 percent in second-quarter and fourth-quarter 2004; the first-quarter 2007 rate was roughly level with the 68.5 percent rate in first-quarter 2006 while falling from 68.9 percent in fourth-quarter 2006. When seasonally adjusted, the home-ownership rate was 68.6 percent in the first quarter compared with 68.7 percent in first-quarter 2006 and 68.7 percent in fourth-quarter 2006. Got that? You will be quizzed. The rental vacancy rate was 10.1 percent in the first quarter, up from 9.5 percent in first-quarter 2007. This rate has risen for four consecutive quarters. The total housing inventory was estimated at 127.27 million units in first-quarter 2007, up from 125.37 million in first-quarter 2006.

Research

UNSURPRISINGLY, RENOVATION IS ON THE DECLINE: Remodeling activity eroded slightly in the first quarter of 2007, according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI). The current market conditions index slipped from 48.2 to 46.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while future expectations edged up to 46.5 from 46.0. The RMI measures remodeler perceptions of market demand for current and future residential remodeling projects, and 50 is normally the dividing line between a growing and contracting market.

NAR MEMBERS SEE INCOME DIP: Members of the National Association of Realtors had median income of $47,700 in 2006, according to the association's new member survey, down from $49,300 when the survey was last conducted, in 2004. The decline can be attributed to the 23.2 percent jump in membership to 1.3 million since 2004, says Paul Bishop, NAR's manager of real estate research. The membership accounts for about half of all real estate licensees in the United States. "With rapid member growth in recent years, newcomers now account for nearly a quarter of all Realtors and are diluting median income," he notes. Those who have been in the business for two years or less earned a median of $15,300, while those with three to five years of experience earned $44,200. For six to 15 years, the median was $64,600, while members in the business for 16 years or more earned $76,200. Income was significantly higher for members who are licensed as brokers; they earned a median of $73,700 compared with $34,600 for salespeople. Eighty-seven percent are Caucasian, 6 percent Hispanic, 4 percent African American, 3 percent Asian, 1 percent Native American and 1 percent other. (Respondents could choose more than one category.)

Home and Hearth

THERE'S WATER MUSIC TO THE EARS OF MANUFACTURERS: Only about 30 percent of residential faucets sold each year replace ones that are broken or worn, Jack Suvak, marketing research director at Moen, confessed to the Washington Post. The rest are split between newly built homes and remodeling projects, wherein people typically start replacing their fixtures a couple of years after moving in. Consider faucets. The ones in kitchens should last 15 years on average, while the ones in bathrooms should last about 20. "Most homeowners are not comfortable with what they inherited," Suvak said. "They want to make it their own."

THE DAMAGE THAT DOGS CAN DO CAN BE UNDONE: If scratches on hardwood floors are not all the way through the finish and into the wood below, there are a couple of things you can try, advises Inman News. To start, sand the scratched area with 0000-grade steel wool to blend the scratch into the surrounding area. Then, use a very small brush and apply a small amount of polyurethane just to the scratch itself - keep it off the surrounding area as much as possible. Many hardwood floor companies also offer polyurethane scratch repair kits. Or rub a small amount of paste wax directly into the scratch, using a clean, soft rag. Let the wax dry, then buff the area around the scratch. If you have dark-colored floors, use a dark paste wax that's formulated for darker woods. Use a color-putty stick in a color that matches the floor. Rub it lightly into the scratch, then let it dry. Also, you can try one of the commercial scratch removers available that work primarily by filling in the scratched area and eliminating the reflected light from that area, making the scratch seem to disappear. Or. . . call someone.

TO DRINK IT UP, SOME OENOPHILES ARE LOCKING IT UP FIRST: Serious wine lovers aren't taking any chances with their collections, the Wall Street Journal observes. While insurers say thefts are still very rare and are most often committed by opportunistic housekeepers or even the resident teenagers, some wealthy collectors are spending as much as $50,000 to install locks that open only at the sound of the owner's voice and affix radio tags that trigger silent alarms when a bottle is removed. One cellar-maker now offers a $5,000 door that's disguised as a fireplace. Security peddlers are doing a brisk business. Los Angeles-based Cellar Masters, which builds about 100 new cellars a year (average cost: $26,000) says a quarter of its recent projects include video surveillance, alarmed doors or motion sensors. Manhattan-based cellar-designer Lee Zinser says more than half of his new clients now ask for alarm systems, compared with almost none three years ago. Wine Enthusiast, an online retailer, says sales of its eSommelier product - an inventory system that allows collectors to place bar codes on their wines and link them to their home alarm systems - rose 30 percent last year. According to an estimate by Fireman's Fund, as many as 10 percent of the nation's most affluent households have wine collections worth at least $100,000. Chubb Group, an insurer that focuses on wealthy clients, says the number of new policies covering wine collections doubled last year.

The Soothsayers

EVEN THE NAR IS ONCE AGAIN REVISING HOPES DOWNWARD: The National Association of Realtors (NAR) still expects more than 6 million existing-home sales in 2007, but stricter lending standards and a decline in subprime mortgage origination have contributed to somewhat lowered expectations compared with earlier forecasts, according to the advocacy group's latest (and well spun) projections. The organization's revised forecast calls for: existing-home sales to total 6.29 million this year and 6.49 million in 2008 compared with 6.48 million last year; new-home sales to reach 864,000 in 2007 and 936,000 next year, lower than the 1.05 million in 2006; and housing starts to attain 1.46 million units this year and 1.52 million in 2008, down from 1.80 million last year. Commented Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist: "If it weren't for a favorable economic backdrop, housing would probably have a hard landing. As it is, we see this as a soft landing with home sales rising gradually in the second half of the year and prices recovering a bit later." He forecasts the national median existing-home price to slip 1 percent to $219,800 this year, and then rise 1.4 percent in 2008. The median new-home price is expected to be essentially unchanged at $246,400 in 2007, and then rise 2.2 percent next year.

LOOK FOR A SLIGHT INCREASE IN REMODELING: Americans will spend nearly $233 on home remodeling this year, unadjusted for inflation, according to the cheerleading National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) 2007 industry forecast. That represents a 1.9 percent increase from the record $228 billion spent in 2006, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. "Quite simply, we're adding more homes each year than we're tearing down, and these will eventually require remodeling," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. Driving the remodeling market are the size and characteristics of the housing stock. With an average age of 33 years and rising, older homes require more remodeling. Though remodeling is somewhat cyclical with new construction, homeowners cannot put off a major repair like a leaky roof as they can discretionary upgrades, and that stabilizes the industry during slower housing markets, the NAHB maintains.

The Mortgage Biz

THE I.R.S. DOESN'T FEEL THE PAIN OF LATE BORROWERS: For homeowners who are seriously delinquent on their mortgages and hoping for relief, the Internal Revenue Service has bad news: If your lender agrees to modify your loan and forgive any of your debt, you could owe federal income tax on the amount forgiven. Kenneth R. Harney notes in the Washington Post that when personal debts are canceled by a creditor, the amount forgiven is treated as ordinary income under the Internal Revenue Code, except in some situations such as insolvency. Worse yet, the lender is required by law to report the canceled amount to the IRS. The Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act of 2007 (H.R. 1876) would amend the tax code to exclude debt forgiveness on principal home mortgages from treatment as income. Introduced in mid-April, the bill would allow lenders to restructure delinquent mortgages without worrying about income-tax hand grenades hitting their borrowers the next year. The legislation could assist many other homeowners in financial trouble who negotiate pre-foreclosure "short sales" or deeds in lieu of foreclosure, or those whose foreclosure proceeds are insufficient to pay off their mortgage debt.

BANK OF AMERICA IS GIVING A BREAK TO BORROWERS: It is now offering something called No Fee Mortgage PLUS, trumpeted as the first home-purchase mortgage to eliminate lender fees and the need for private mortgage insurance. The bank says its product "guarantees the best deal and an on-time closing for customers." There are no application, lender, appraisal, loan origination, title or flood determination fees, among other benefits. And if the borrower is approved for a mortgage with Bank of America but chooses to close with another lender, he or she will receive $250.

LOAN APPLICATION VOLUME IS GROWING: For the week ended May 4, volume increased by 3.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the change was 4 percent compared with the previous week and 19.9 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. Refinancings went up 4.9 percent from the previous week, and purchase applications rose 2.6 percent on an adjusted basis. The refinance share of mortgage activity grew to 41.8 percent of total applications from 41.5 percent the previous week, while the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share increased to 18 from 17.9 percent.

RATES REMAIN VIRTUALLY STEADY: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) this week averaged 6.15 percent, down from last week's 6.16 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.58 percent. The 15-year FRM this week was unchanged at 5.87 percent. A year ago, it was 6.17 percent. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.89 percent this week, up from last week's 5.87 percent and down from last year's 6.22 percent. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.48 percent this week versus 5.42 percent the prior week. At this time last year, it was 5.62 percent. "Low employment growth in April - the slowest pace since November 2004 - and downward revisions to both February and March job growth tempered market concerns of future increases in the rate of inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "As a result, mortgage rates were little changed this week. Despite a slowdown in house price growth, borrowers continue to refinance their loans, extracting approximately $70.5 billion in cash from their home equity in the first quarter of 2007, down slightly from $77.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006. According to the Federal Reserve Board, homeowners had nearly $11 trillion in home equity at the end of 2006, an increase of 30 percent over the past three years."

HERE'S A NEW ALTERNATIVE TO AN EQUITY LOAN: A small San Francisco investment company, backed by a subsidiary of insurer American International Group, is rolling out a product that lets homeowners tap into their home equity without moving or taking out a loan, the Wall Street Journal reports. REX & Co. offers to pay homeowners cash now in exchange for a right to part of the proceeds when the home eventually is sold. The owner of a home valued at $750,000 might obtain $100,000 in cash by giving REX a 50 percent share of the change in the home's value. If the home sold for $850,000, REX would receive $150,000 - the original $100,000 invested plus half of the increase in value. If the home sold for $650,000, REX's share would be $50,000, half of what it had invested. Thomas Sponholtz, a former executive at the investment arm of London's Barclays PLC who founded REX in 2004, describes the product as an alternative to debt-based methods of extracting cash from a home, such as home-equity loans or reverse mortgages. Perhaps it's technically not usury, but. . .

Out and About
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Four of One, a Third-Dozen of Another

It is hard to imagine two sets of apartments more different from each other than the four pre-war co-ops on upper Fifth Avenue on Carnegie Hill and the four contemporary condos on Columbus Circle. They are from two different worlds: the old and the new, the gracious and the dazzling, the reserved and the flamboyant, the contained and the expansive, the shabby and the stylish. What they share is prices as high as $14 million. It is perhaps instructive to see how location, ambience, finishes, the culture of the community and views affect what a dollar buys blocks or even floors apart.

Consider the three-bedroom apartment 10 floors from the top of a soaring modern tower with mind-blowing views of the entire Central Park, mid-Manhattan and beyond through floor-to-ceiling windows. An apartment that reputedly and apparently has hardly been used since it was completed about two years ago, this space is startlingly chic. Not a stick of furniture, not a wall, not a lamp is anything but white; the only exceptions are the hardwood floors and the kitchen cabinets fronts. This 2,910-sf unit has a 36-foot living/dining room, three bedrooms, three and a half baths finished (of course) in white marble, a kitchen with, naturally, white marble countertops and floors, and 10-foot ceilings. Not a dime was spared in designing this aerie, the price of which is $14 million with $5,552 in monthly common charges. Per square foot, the price of what is described as a "trophy" apartment is $4,811.

Now venture across and uptown to the neighborhood near Mount Sinai Hospital. There you'll find a duplex co-op that is marketed as "the ultimate New York residence." Its most impressive feature is a wraparound terrace with lush plantings, though obstructed views to the south. With five bedrooms, five and a half baths, separate guest room across a common hall, formal dining room, family room with wood-burning fireplace, laundry, separate maid's room and a dynamite eat-in kitchen -whew! - this 4,000-sf apartment reeks of Old World charm. For some, the 16th-floor terrace looking primarily north and over Central Park to the west may be more than adequate compensation for a living room that is too small for grand entertaining. The price of this unit: now $13.9 million from $15 million in January with maintenance of $7,071 a month; it comes to $3,475 per square foot.

Where the Columbus Circle condo is as sleek as the newest Lamborghini, the Fifth Avenue co-op embodies the sturdiness of a vintage Packard. What they share is a characteristic that is impossible to value accurately: the "wow" factor, though for different reasons. Each apartment - note the words "trophy" and "ultimate" above - will appeal to buyers who are, perhaps, less concerned about details than about a totality that will tend to bowl over their visitors. "Wow" has its price, but that price depends on that tiny segment of the market willing to pay a premium for the benefit of widened eyes and dropped jaws. Such buyers do not walk in the door every day.

At the same time, not every apartment has to be priced in the stratosphere to exact a "wow" from prospective purchasers. There is a reason, after all, why the preponderance of new and renovated kitchens are cut from the same mold of granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances overlaid with the air professional chefs. (Incidentally, it seems that marble is becoming the new granite.) Where do most buyers head first when exploring an apartment? The kitchen, of course, then to other areas designed or staged to wow them - fancy baths, ornate fireplace mantles, sunny terraces and their like. So it is with some of the other properties now available in the same buildings above or near them.

Below, another three of the Columbus Circle apartments, viewed since the last Realty Digest:

• With kitchen and bath finishes much like the $14 million "trophy" above, including white marble, a 1,862-sf unit on a somewhat lower floor affords a 40-foot-long view of central Park. It has a living room, three bedrooms, three full baths, and unusually handsome rare-wood paneling and built-ins. Walking into the impressively designed entrance gallery, guests are hard-pressed to miss the "wow" factor, which is heightened by almost unbeatable views of the park. The price: $7.75 million with common charges of $2,850 and a cost of $4,162 per square foot.
• In the same line but four floors higher, the asking price is lower: $6.695 million with common charges of $2.831 a month. The apartments are identical in layout, so why does the higher unit cost less? One clue is in the photos that accompany the listing: Only exterior pictures are shown. This apartment is vacant, and it enjoys none of the custom finishes in which the owner of the lower condo has invested. In other words, the "wow" is diminished. The price per square foot is $3,596.
• Another apartment in the same building is even less expensive per square foot: $2,665. This 1,595-sf condo has two bedrooms, two and a half baths, the same bath and kitchen finishes, and views that are notable for their poor quality. Depending on the room, the views are either interrupted by the mass of other buildings or they look toward New Jersey as seen around a massive building air conditioning unit. No "wow" here, thereby explaining the listing price of $4.25 million with common charges of $2,358 per month. It is a hard sell.

Below, the other Fifth Avenue apartments:

• A duplex maisonette with windows facing Central Park and the traffic on Fifth Avenue in the same building as the $14.25 million apartment above. In need of serious updating, this place has on the building's ground floor the living room, dining room, a library described as "proper sized" and nice entry foyer. Although the kitchen boasts up-to-date appliances, it is burdened with the same rosy granite on backsplashes, countertops and floor; the effect dazzling in a bad way: It is hard on the eyes. A Queen Anne-style staircase leads to the second floor with its five bedrooms, three baths and ample closets. The entire apartment has good "bones," but its décor is painfully old-fashioned. The square footage is not given, and the listing price of $5.25 million with monthly maintenance of $4,404 certainly would be higher if the "wow" factor were not related to the extent of fatigue in the co-op's cosmetic aspects.
• One block up Fifth, the biggest "wow" will be reserved for the kitchen of a second floor 2,200-sf co-op with three bedrooms, three baths, two maids rooms and a fireplace. Small, dated decades ago and alarmingly finished in red and black, the kitchen is something to behold. Adding to the defects of this apartment are intense colors elsewhere, a master bath that is shared with another bedroom (or library) and a gallery that seems like a discordant attempt to evoke maybe some century in France. It's difficult to say. Of course, what is done can be undone, but buyers are obviously dropping their jaws at the many wows that this property affords. It wasoriginally listed in November at $3.7 million and now can be scooped up (implied pun intended) for a mere $3.35 million with maintenance of $2,504 a month. Bring your interior designer. Per square foot, the price is $1,523. But Fifth Avenue, it is.
• Across the hall is another dated apartment, this one with four bedrooms, four baths, a maids room, a wood-burning fireplace and an expansive central gallery with inlaid marble. The eat-in kitchen is huge and needs to be overhauled. In fact, the whole place is in need of improvement. Not all the bones are wonderful - for example, the master bedroom is relatively small (14' x 17'), given the size of the unit, and it shares a bath with another bedroom. Buyers still enamored of chintz and other patterns upon patterns will be wowed by the décor, but the undisclosed amount of square footage is perhaps the owner's justification for the listing price of $5.6 million, down from its original $5.95 million since last August, with monthly maintenance of $3,328. Yes, last August. Which speaks volumes about the difference between seller expectations and buyer realities.

Elsewhere in Manhattan, some of the properties also listed by various brokers that have been visited in the last two weeks as well:

• In the heart of Greenwich Village, a five-story 1835 Federal house with a ground-floor apartment that reputedly can fetch up to $4,500 a month in rent. The property has a terrific bi-level garden shared with the apartment, six bedrooms, four and a half baths, five fireplaces, an expansive open kitchen, 11.5-foot ceilings, master bedroom with large bath on the second floor, where there is a library, and the need for some freshening up. It is listed at $6.85 million, which is not inappropriate.
• A two-bedroom co-op in an Upper West Side building designed by Rosario Candela. With excellent closet space, a sadly outdated but sizable kitchen, typically small vintage bath, spacious living room and parquet floors, this Riverside Drive co-op needs, as they say, tender loving cosmetic care. The views from the living room, bedroom and kitchen are open to the east, not the river, and the less said about the view from the second bedroom, the better. The price of $899,000 with $960 in monthly maintenance is within reason.
• * In Chelsea, a fourth-floor walkup that is advertised as 255 square feet. More like a hotel room than a full-time residence, this studio is cramped, claustrophobic and dreary beyond belief. Yet the co-op is priced at $325,000 with $505 in maintenance and real estate taxes monthly. Well, they allow pets and pieds-a-terre. The mind boggles.
• A SoHo 2,500-sf loft only a step or two up from raw space. This co-op is on the fifth floor, a creaky, manually operated elevator ride from the street. One bedroom is up a flight of stairs, along with one of two sad baths. The second bedroom and bath are below. The kitchen is of bare essentials variety, and the floors feel spongy underneath. There are three exposures, double-height ceilings and a wood-burning fireplace. The price is a remarkably high $2.95 million, and that's down from $3.35 million, with $1,500 in monthly maintenance.
• * On the Upper West Side, a narrow 2,800-sf two-family townhouse that accents the vertical and offers a soupcon of charm, though renovated insouciantly. Its five bedrooms are small, but ceilings are high, the five fireplaces are wood-burning, and brick walls are exposed. The only one of two kitchens available to be seen is open and ordinary, the staircase to the top floor is spiral, and the three terraces face gardens. Other assets include a roof deck, wiring for a sound system, ducts for the installation of central air conditioning, two washer/dryers, skylights and plentiful storage. At an asking price of $2.499 million halfway between an express subway stop and Central Park, this property represents real value.
• A 2,600-sf SoHo loft that was renovated, nicely, some years ago. With its cast iron columns, original heavy ceiling beams, nearly 11-foot ceilings and handsome built-ins that evoke a library, this condo has obvious appeal. On the market at higher prices since January, the place has no open views from its two sides, though lots of light. Other drawbacks are the existence of a single bedroom and just one and a half baths, yet there is ample opportunity to add more without seriously compromising the layout or spacious feeling of the property. For the right buyer, the loft is well worth nearly its current asking price of $3.495 million with $803 in monthly maintenance.
• * In the Greenwich Village Gold Coast neighborhood, a beautifully gut renovated 1839 Greek revival townhouse with five bedrooms, three and a half baths, and 18-foot-high atrium overlooking the 50-foot south garden south. There is a gorgeous kitchen on the ground floor, but the dining room has to be upstairs. Otherwise, this property with Waterworks bath fixtures, integrated audio system and video security system is otherwise close to flawless. And the price is commensurate, now reduced from $8.9 million after four months to $8.3 million.
• An 850-sf ground-floor co-op with a strange layout on the Upper West Side. Although there is a room at the back, through the modest kitchen and past the bath, it lacks a closet and thus does not fit the legal description of a bedroom. There is space for almost nothing else in the room for a bed and no other room in the apartment to convert into a bedroom. Half of one living room wall is built-in bookshelves; the other half, closets, where none obviously had been originally. The washer/dryer is at the far end of a disconcertingly narrow walk-in coat closet next to the front door. Weird and way, way overpriced, even at $715,000, reduced from $759,000 with $698 in monthly maintenance.
  

New Listings
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Some of Manhattan's Latest Listings

To view just a few of the newest listings of condominiums and cooperatives put on the market by various brokers, click here. (To view all photos, tours, floor plans and maps, please use Internet Explorer.)

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