Three years ago, a bill that would have forced landlords throughout New York State to accept recipients of federal Section 8 rent vouchers was vetoed by then-Governor David Paterson on the grounds that it would have placed an onerous regulatory burden on landlords and cost the state millions to enforce. However, in his State of the State message last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo indicated he’ll revive the idea as part of his own legislative program.

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A leading housing market bear says banks in the New York City area have so far refrained from foreclosing on owners who owe more than their properties are worth.  But analyst Keith Jurow doesn’t expect that trend to last much longer.

In fact, writes Jurow:

Within a year, I expect many of the [nation's] weakest markets to show signs of unraveling. Perhaps the most vulnerable market is the entire NYC metro area. Sooner or later, the banks will have to start foreclosing or even doing short sales. When these properties hit the market in significant numbers, I have no doubt that prices in the entire region – where 19 million people reside – will collapse.

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You’ll have to wait ’till tomorrow for today’s promised data — since today’s New York Times has provided fodder for a diversion.

The Times reports that the 2,820 households at the Penn South co-op building are doing some “soul-searching.” Their complex needs $80 million for repairs — and the city is dangling aid, but with an expensive string attached: the co-op owners will have to keep the units “affordable” for another eight years, meaning that current owners won’t be able to “cash in and sell their apartments at the market rate.”

These perennial dilemmas expose the hypocrisy of many self-styled “affordable Manhattan” advocates. (more…)

New York’s slow growth during the past decade is reflected in newly released Census Bureau data showing that the Empire State ranked 48th out of 50 states in the creation of new housing units from 2000 to 2009.

As illustrated in the chart below, New York State’s housing growth rate of 4.4 percent was just over one-third of the national average of 12.1 percent.  Only Connecticut and Rhode Island created additional housing at a slower rate during this period.  The raw numbers: New York added 337,956 housing units to the stock of just under 7.7 million units counted in the 2000 census. (more…)