The home buying and selling processes are in a word, overwhelming. The markets are living breathing organisms that ebb and flow along with mortgage rates, area comps, national and global stocks....the list goes on and on. But, that’s why we’re here to help!
Introducing 'The Line'
Twice a week our Chief Economist, Greg Heym, will be bringing you the latest market updates broken down in the most easily digestible way, so you can start your day informed on what’s happening in the U.S. economy, stocks, tech, and the real estate market and know how that affects you. Enter your info below and select 'The Line' to subscribe now.
And, so who is Greg Heym?
Greg Heym is Chief Economist for Terra Holdings, one of the nation's largest privately-held real estate services firms, and parent company to Brown Harris Stevens. As the creator of ValuExchange, Greg oversees the most comprehensive database of residential property sales in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He leads a fully-dedicated team of research professionals who develop and prepare Market Reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Hamptons and Palm Beach, with a printed circulation of well over 250,000.
Greg is also widely recognized as an industry expert, and is frequently quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other national print media outlets. He is a frequent on-air news contributor to CNBC, Bloomberg TV and NY1, and a member of the New York City Economic Advisory Panel.
Before joining Terra Holdings, Greg served as Vice President and Chief Economist for The Real Estate Board of New York. In this role, he created and authored the Condominium Sales Report, Retail Report and REBNY Market Report, as well as forecasting New York City economic conditions. Greg also served as the government affairs liaison responsible for drafting position memos and performing financial analysis of state and city budgets, development projects and tax benefit programs. REBNY continues to call upon Greg's expertise to this day as an instructor for the organization's New York Residential Specialization Program.
Greg's professional background also includes working as an Economist for the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in economics from Saint John's University, and received a M.B.A. in finance from Hofstra University.
Here’s a sample of what you can expect from Greg each week:
NYC’s Unemployment Rate Hits 20.4% in June
The city lost 758,400 private sector jobs compared to a year ago, bringing its unemployment rate up to what some consider a depression-era level.
Should I panic? I wouldn’t.
But, how can I remain so calm? Most of jobs lost are in industries that are still closed or have only recently been allowed to reopen. One-third of them are in leisure and hospitality alone. If New York’s reopening continues to go smoothly, some of these jobs should start to come back in the next few weeks.
Los Angeles has also seen its unemployment rate skyrocket, reaching 20.6% in May before dipping to 19.5% last month. Unlike NY, California has seen an increase in coronavirus cases which has led to a shutdown of bars and indoor dining.
Other scary unemployment rates in June include 16.1% in Chicago and 17.7% in Detroit. All much higher than the current US rate of 11.1%
Does this mean people will flee New York and other big cities?
Some will leave, but not as many as you think. And there will be others to take their place.
NYC has faced a ton of adversity in just my lifetime.
Some examples
A fiscal crisis
Stock market crashes
A crime wave
September 11th
Lehman Brothers
Hurricane Sandy
You get the point, and now you have an idea of how old I am. After each of these, many were ready to write NYC’s epitaph and they were wrong each time.
What do the naysayers get wrong? The city’s economy for one — if it’s not the envy of the world it should be. It’s more diverse than ever, which is why the city’s population has continued to rise despite the troubles I mentioned earlier.
The Bottom Line
Don’t bet against New York City, you’re likely to lose even more often than the Knicks! Sorry, as a Knicks fan I had to say it.