BEST ANSWER
.Prices in Great Neck are down about 20% from the peak in 2006 and are projected to go down an an additional 15-25 % in the second half of 2009 alone. Great Neck is the most luxurious big town in Long Island and local realtors are optimistic that Great neck bottom out some time in 2010, but this is optimistic given the economic realties of the town. Their simply is a lot of supply in Great Neck. Many homeowners in Great neck are in the real estate business themselves (builders or own properties in queens that just dropped 20-40%), or in the jewlery, or the textile business, or the rug business which are all suffering (and these people are in deb to their creditors). Eventually these people have to sell. Great neck also has its share of working wall street professionals (bonuses down big) and lawyers (billable hours down big), so some of these people have to sell. Lots of old Jewish people in great neck that could be tempted to move to florida or California with luxury beachfront properties prices in those retirement places already down 40-50%. So expect some of these homeowners who are still up big time (despite the recent 20% drop) to cash ( the ashkanezis Jewish population retire to South florida and the large aging Iranian Jewish population are likely to move nearby relatives in LA. A total peak to trough drop of 50-60% seems plausible. Keep in mind thous we are already down at least 20% from 2006 so only a 30-40% from here is likely. Keep in mind that while I think prices will be lower in a year, mortgage rates are likely to be substantially higher (as the fed will need to fight inflation) so the cost of actually buying a home is not necessarily going to be 30-40% cheaper in 2 years (but it will likely be cheaper).
Sun Aug 23 2009, 18:23
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