Housing OH Activity Report & US Dollar's Dip
A: Open House activity is 'picking up' according to a sales manager at Citi-Habitats who oversees 2 offices of sales agents. On the macro side, the US Dollar continues its downward trends making NYC housing more attractive to foreign investors.
Open House Activity: According to Citi-Habitats Sales Manager Brian Legum:
"Open house activity has definitely increased over the past few weeks. My agents are reporting to me that those apartments with recent price reductions are seeing the most action (10-25 people) at their open houses. Its obvious that buyers have 'wisened up' since the inflated prices of 2005, and are showing up only as prices come down. Apartments priced in the $400k-$700k range have experienced the fastest pickup in buyer activity while the high end market is seeing only slightly better turnouts."
US Dollar Slides: The US Dollar Slides on risk aversion and higher oil prices; also contributing is the US's current account deficit and the bounce in the EURO. How does this affect NYC housing you ask? Well, it leads to an environment that is very investment friendly in terms of currency valuations to foreign investors. For example, as the EURO gains value against the US Dollar, housing prices in US dollars are cheaper for those who own Euros. And vice versa. Here is a chart from Yahoo Finance comparing the value of the US Dollar to the EURO over the past 1 year:
At this time last year 1 US Dollar bought you $0.76 Euros. The US dollar's weakness spurred a lot of European investors to buy in NYC. It was one of a few factors that led to a very active period for the first 4 months of 2005. While the dollar gained over the course of last year, it has started to dip again over the past 3 months. If it continues, we will get more pressure on the buy side from outside investors looking to cash in and buy US real estate when the dollar is cheap.
UrbanDigs says: More pressure on the buy side from a weaker dollar, a cooling housing market with price reductions and desperate sellers, and a pickup in OH activity as of late could be the beginning formula for a short-term pickup in NYC housing markets. Keep your eyes open!
Add to Newsvine
