Even though the consensuses amongst real estate brokers in Manhattan feel that property owners will not be affected by the national housing crises…By the numbers, it is time to get realistic.
Not too mention I have seen a huge amount of “expired” listings in the listing systems. It should not take more than six months to sell an apartment in NYC – if it is priced accordingly. It is time for brokers to step it up and start walking the talk with more realistic pricing. What is the point of having an exclusive listing if you cannot sell it?
BY THE NUMBERS
For New York City:
Foreclosure fight moves to NY Senate
From CRAIN’S NY BusinessBY Daniel Massey
A showdown looms in the state Senate over a bill that would impose a one-year moratorium on foreclosures.
The legislation, which the Assembly passed by an overwhelming majority last week, has drawn the ire of the banking industry and some Republicans, who seem prepared instead to support a bill proposed by Gov. David Paterson.
Foreclosure filings in the state rose 40% in the first quarter from the year-earlier period, to about 14,000, according to RealtyTrac, and more New Yorkers are falling behind on their mortgage payments. With federal legislation stalled, state Democrats and Republicans and their allies say that something needs to be done, but that’s where the agreement ends.
“The industry’s answer is ‘We don’t need regulation,’ but that’s what they were saying 10 years ago, and you see the mess we’ve gotten into,” says Josh Zinner, co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project.
Democrats and housing activists say that a one-year moratorium combined with a strengthening of the governor’s plan—which focuses on assisting those facing foreclosure and avoiding another crisis—would help address the issue.
But the idea of stopping the clock for subprime borrowers who make minimum monthly payments determined by a judge is anathema to lenders, who say it would make it harder for creditworthy New Yorkers to get mortgages.
Senate Republicans appear to be getting behind the Paterson bill.
Emphasis on governor’s bill
“If something is going to happen in this area, it’s going to involve the governor’s program bill,” says Hugh Farley, R-Schenectady, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
But housing advocates are gearing up for a fight in the chamber, where, spearheaded by Acorn, they have persuaded Republican Sen. Frank Padavan of Queens to sponsor the moratorium measure.
“If Sen. Padavan and his colleagues are serious, they will follow the Assembly’s lead and pass this legislation without delay,” says Acorn Executive Director Bertha Lewis.
The Paterson legislation, which came out of the Banking Department, steers clear of the tricky moratorium question. It would require lenders to send a notice to borrowers at least 60 days before beginning a residential foreclosure action and would mandate that the parties meet with a judge to work out a settlement. It also expands the state’s anti-predatory lending laws and rules governing borrowers’ ability to repay loans.
Advocates say that bill needs even more protection for borrowers, but mortgage industry experts say it goes too far and would inhibit lenders’ ability to provide credit.
Hearing today
The debate will continue before the Senate Banking Committee today as mortgage and housing groups testify on the governor’s proposal. It’s unclear how the Assembly would react if a watered-down Paterson bill is approved by the Senate.
Banking and financial services companies spent $7.3 million on lobbying statewide in 2007, according to the state Commission on Public Integrity. Banking industry political action committees donated a total of at least $426,000 to Senate and Assembly members—a significant amount in a nonelection year—according to the New York Public Interest Research Group.
At least $168,000 of that amount went to Senate Republicans, and at least $107,000 was donated to Assembly Democrats.
Observers of state politics say that the moratorium might have served a purpose, even if it doesn’t become law.
