Recessed Living in 2009

It has been a tough year for New Yorkers. We have been in a deep recession that has led to pay cuts, lost jobs and will soon lead to increase taxes.

With the supply of Money decreasing and the demand increasing times have been difficult and will most likely continue this way going forward.

New York Commercial Real Estate is on a massive decline, with companies moving to cheaper and smaller space which has lead to a drop in price per sq ft. This also means that there are fewer available jobs in Manhattan.

Fewer jobs has lead to people moving to cheaper situations in outer boroughs or neighboring counties. This has created a massive price drop in rental prices in Manhattan. Landlords are dropping prices to keep people in Manhattan.

The government has continued to spend and be aggressive to add incentive to spending and provide a jolt to the economy. The first time house buyer credit gives new home buyers almost 10k assistance in buying a home. This has further encouraged bad and foolish spending by people and taking out loans that they cant afford to pay back. I believe that 2010 will a tumultuous time where government backed loans can't get paid back as people exhaust their savings trying to stay a float.

What this means is apartment rentals in Manhattan can take another deep dip. This principle a "W" recession is the idea that we will have to bottom out twice to get back to prosperity. The first bottom will be reached when the market bottoms out with government assistance holding us up. Once government assistance is pulled out from under our feet we will fall back down until prices reach a new low.

As tough as 2009 has been we have some tough times ahead of us and we can look forward to another tough year trying to stay in the black.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.