Skip to Content
CityRealty Logo

New Developments in the News

NOVEMBER 30, 2009




An auction moves units in Riverdale, a symbol of the automobile age is restored to its former home, and housing may be at its most affordable since 1970.

According to the National Association of Realtors, housing prices are more affordable than they've been since 1970. Existing home sales showed a big gain, inventories continued to decline, and condominium and co-op sales surged 13.2 percent in October. The recent rush to buy may have been spurred by the upcoming deadline (at the end of this month) for a first-time-buyer tax credit.

54 unsold units in the Solaria, a 20-story, 64-unit apartment building in the Riverdale section of the Bronx were sold at a recent auction. Most of those apartments reportedly went for between 35 and 45 percent below "list" prices, though they were said to have been within 5 to 10 percent of the current going rates for the neighborhood. Though a portion of the apartments were sold soon after the Solaria went on the market in 2006, many buyers were knocked out by the financial crisis.

A terracotta medallion depicting a Model T driving through the Holland Tunnel—it once graced the roof of the Tunnel Garage at 520 Broome Street—has been restored and once again looks down upon the tunnel from its former heights, though the onetime garage is now a 9-story apartment building.