Apartment hunting on the iPhone

Real estate companies launch touch-screen 'apps'

Last month, the most popular applications that could be downloaded to the iPhone from Apple's iTunes store included a puzzle game named "Blocked," a joke generator called "Yo Mama" (sample: "Yo mama so stupid she spent 20 minutes lookin' at an orange juice box because it said ‘concentrate.'") and a public radio tuner.

There were no real estate-related applications among Apple's most-downloaded. Still, a search for the keyword "real estate" turned up roughly 20 applications, the majority of which revolve around rental and sales listings.

Apple only launched their now popular iPhone applications or "apps" last summer, but some real estate companies such as StreetEasy and Trulia have already launched programs. Indeed, each company claims that more than 100,000 users have downloaded the free apps they've created. Representatives from both companies say the touch-screen devices have already become valuable extensions of their Web sites.

StreetEasy's app uses the iPhone's built-in global positioning system to pull up listings near wherever a user happens to be. And, at the moment it has the market to itself as the only real estate iPhone application that focuses exclusively on New York listings.

"If I'm by the Flatiron [Building], I'm going to see apartments for sale in Gramercy," said Dawn Doherty, StreetEasy's vice president for strategic development.

Trulia's app, like its Web site, has a national focus. "We pull in open house data, and no other app does that on a national level," said Rob Cross, Trulia's director of distribution. "You can know immediately with one touch on your screen what's for sale. So, if you're sitting in a coffee shop planning your day, you can see all the properties that you might want to visit."

Cross said Trulia's iPhone app is part of the company's strategy to increase its focus on mobile technology.

"The evolution of real estate is towards mobile, and we need to make it easier for people to search for properties while they're on the go," he said.

Doherty says that while StreetEasy's product is geared towards real estate pros and consumers alike, the iPhone application could be particularly valuable for agents and brokers.

"If I were out practicing real estate now, I would go out and purchase an iPhone just because it's a portable database when you're out and about with clients," she said. "You can be with a client and walk by a building, and the client asks you about it, and you can look up everything that's going on in that building."

While none of the city's major brokerages have iPhone apps, several firms have made their Web sites iPhone-compatible in recent months. Last month, for example, The Real Deal reported that Brooklyn-based Ideal Properties Group launched a Web site specifically for viewing on Apple's iPhone. Others say it's only a matter of time before iPhone applications become commonplace on New York's real estate scene.

Buyers forfeit deposits at new developments

Fifth on the Park rendering

Some buyers of new condominium units are being forced to walk away from their deposits because the mortgages they lined up before the credit crisis are no longer available, and they can't get financing. Near closing dates, some banks are requiring buyers to put additional money up for the down payment if they want a mortgage. For conforming loans in New York City, banks are now requiring at least 20 percent down, and for jumbo loans, lenders want down payments of as much as 50 percent. Some buyers are suing the developers of new buildings for their deposits back. "If I knew this, I would never buy this apartment," said Louis Andriopoulos, who put down $100,000 for a two-bedroom at Fifth on the Park in 2007, but lost mortgage approval. "Ten percent used to be more than enough [for a down payment] and I never had a problem with financing before."

Tribeca Live/Work Loft 2500 SQFT W/D April 1st

Tribeca Live/Work Loft - 2500 Square Feet

For showing times, please contact JAD Realty Group:

Jeffrey Ditri - 610.781.8417

LOCATION:

Tribeca / Franklin Street

DESCRIPTION:

Well maintained, elevator building

Third floor unit

Separate gourmet kitchen including granite counter tops and new appliances

Modern bathroom, new fixtures

Large living Space featuring a double exposure view

Corner unit

Each bedroom can fit a queen size bed and extra furniture

Two storage closets with extra loft storage space

15' high ceilings

Southern and eastern exposure view

Original hardwood plank floors and steel columns

Excellent Tribeca location; near all transportation, restaurants, downtown, the East Village, the West Village, Soho, and Union Square

TRANSPORTATION:

4,5,6,1,A,N,Q

LISTED RENT:

$6,495

CONTACT:

Name: Jeffrey

Phone: 610.781.8417

Tribeca Live/Work Loft - 2500 Square Feet

For showing times, please contact JAD Realty Group:

Jeffrey Ditri - 610.781.8417

Gramercy Park Rent Stabilized One Bedroom Apartment w/ Garden

Gramercy Park One Bedroom Rental

**NEW LISTING**

Private Garden - Exposed Brick - April 1st

For showing times, contact JAD Realty Group

Jeffrey Ditri - 610.781.8417

LOCATION:

Gramercy / Union Square / Irving Place

DESCRIPTION:

Well maintained, walk-up building

First floor unit

Kitchen including appliances and new cabinetry

Marble bathroom, new fixtures

Living room featuring an exposed brick wall

11' X 11' bedroom, can fit a queen size bed and extra furniture

Two storage closets

Access to a private garden

Southern exposure view

New hardwood floors

Rent stabilized unit, priced below market value

Excellent Gramercy location; near all transportation, restaurants, Irving Place, the East Village, and Union Square

TRANSPORTATION:

4,5,6,L,N,R,Q

LISTED RENT:

$1,844

CONTACT:

Name: Jeffrey

Phone: 610.781.8417

Gramercy Park One Bedroom Rental

**NEW LISTING**

Private Garden - Exposed Brick - April 1st

For showing times, contact JAD Realty Group

Jeffrey Ditri - 610.781.8417

Manhattan office market sluggish

The Manhattan office market overall and most submarkets continued to decline in February, but the pace of decline was slower than in January of this year, according to a February office market report released today by Newmark Knight Frank.

The availability rate in February rose slightly to 12.4 percent from January's 12 percent in Manhattan. Year-over-year, the availability rate rose a sizable 4 percent from February 2008. The average asking rent dropped 1.5 percent, to $51.27 per square foot last month from $52.08 per square foot in January. Year-over-year in February, the average asking rent dropped 22 percent from the February 2008 peak of $65.75 per square foot, the report says.

In Midtown South, the availability rate of office space rose to 11.4 percent in February, up from 10.9 percent in January and up from 7.7 percent in February 2008. Asking rents dropped 3.6 percent to $39.19 per square foot from $40.63 per square foot in January.

The Midtown submarket also posted declines, but they were less steep. The availability rate rose 0.4 percent, to 13.4 percent in February from 13 percent in January, according to the report. The average asking rent fell to $61.71 per square foot in February, compared to $62.21 per square foot a month earlier.

Downtown has not fared as badly in terms of space availability, which has held steady at 11.7 percent for several months. Asking rents, however, dropped 2.2 percent between January and February, to $41.18 per square foot from $42.13 a foot, and a total of 10.1 percent since their peak in March 2008.