At Least Someone is Optimistic About Something

Only in America: real estate is still breaking records in Manhattan and the Hamptons – Felix Salmon – Spectator – 1 July 2008

The main reason why Manhattan prices haven’t fallen, however is cash…Fun fact: you can fit seven £50 notes into a square foot, which means that at current exchange rates a square foot of £50 notes is worth $690, and that the asking price for Dr Rosenwald’s apartment is equivalent to covering its floors in 22-deep wads of £50 notes. And Dr Rosenwald’s is a very long way from being the most desirable apartment in New York: it’s not even the most desirable apartment in its building. Hedge fund manager Dan Loeb has a penthouse there with over 10,000 sq ft of space; multiply that by $15,000 per sq ft, and it’s worth $150 million. Probably substantially more, since in New York price per square foot nearly always goes up as apartments get bigger…There were never any subprime borrowers in Manhattan to speak of…Manhattan lenders generally retain ownership of the loans they originate and bask in extremely low default rates. In turn, those low default rates mean there is no glut of foreclosed properties on the market – even as demand from people wanting to live in Manhattan is as strong as ever…