96 Schermerhorn Apartment

What interests me about this apartment for sale is that this apartment is the apartment G. and I used to own. We sold this downtown Brooklyn one bedroom in May 2005 for $345K. Today the asking price is $440K.

Does the $85K price increase say anything about the New York City real estate market as a whole? (When I refer to the New York market, I mean my market: Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn and just maybe, Astoria, Long Island City and Jackson Heights in Queens.) Has the asking price moved with the market or has the price outpaced the market?

Last week's news about the declining price of existing homes (down 11.3% percent nationwide from a year ago) encouraged me that we might be able to jump into the market again. A New York Times article says that the market is seeing prices not seen since 2004. If that statement could be applied consistently, our old apartment would not cost $440K; the cost would be lower than our 2005 sale price. If only that were true.

I read prices in New York declined by 7%. Even in New York media, meaningful stats remain cloudy. Is the 7% all five boroughs added together? Averaging all the boroughs together doesn't tell the Manhattan shopper anything. A short piece in the New York Times indicates that current prices are falling in Manhattan but the stats don't reflect a decrease yet.

Back to our former nest: 96 Schermerhorn is a great apartment. When the Brooklyn Law School dormitory rose behind the building, our apartment was spared the loss of a great view. The view looks out over Brooklyn and the Verrazano Bridge. I am puzzled that the old photo of our living room with our furniture is used. Looked better then, perhaps? I like the kitchen remodeling, but I wonder if the openness above the kitchen counter is worth the loss of cabinet space.

Sentimentality or sour grapes? I think the former, but we won't know until we are owners of a new space ourselves.