110 Livingston Street building

The article in this Sunday’s Real Estate section of the New York Times observes that single women are betting that even if they buy property in a declining market, the values won’t drop as much as they would have spent on rent.

“A woman will say, ‘I’m still saving money in the long term.’ ” said JoAnn Schwimmer, an associate real estate broker at DJK Residential. “They’re able to see the bigger picture, while a guy says, ‘I have to get the best deal.’ ” She said that her female clients who bought four years ago have male friends still waiting for prices to drop.

According to the article, single women spent more than $30 million out of the $100 million or so in sales at 110 Livingston, the 299-unit condominium in Brooklyn. Single women bought 72 of the first 165 apartments sold. “Spending by these women far surpassed that of single men, who accounted for $19 million. Married couples accounted for about $45 million in sales, and investors $5 million.”

In the 70 Washington building, while women have purchased a smaller percentage of apartments in this building, single women bought about 40 of 200 of the units, including the two penthouses, accounting for about $35 million in sales, according to the executive sales director, Toby Klein.

Some of the more interesting data quoted:

While average sales prices have not dropped in Brooklyn, apartments are taking far longer to sell. Apartments in Dumbo, Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights sat on the market for an average of 111 days last quarter, compared with 62 days in the corresponding period in 2005.

While the premise of the article is “single women buying real-estate”, clearly the big winner is David Walentas, whose two buildings (70 Washington and 110 Livingston) in Brooklyn are cleverly advertised.

{Women Unafraid of Condo Commitment, NYTimes, 12/10/06}