As a follow up to our recent blog post on the current financial state of the American worker, we want to share the following information that was provided by Keith Jurow, a wonderful real estate analyst whose insights we’ve shared before.  According to Keith and the NY State Department of Financial Services, the number of pre-foreclosure notices (since 2010) sent out by mortgage servicers to residents in NYC and Long Island has exceeded the one million mark and greater than 2 million state-wide. UGH!

This, of course, is occurring in an NYC real estate market that is ridiculously priced. According to The Elliman Report: Manhattan Sales, the number of resales in Manhattan rose 7.7 percent from last year to 2,429, while the median sales price of resale apartments remained unchanged at $950,000.

In addition, the median sales price for luxury listings—listings priced over $4 million—hit a record of $6,975,006 and median sales prices on new development increased 4.9 percent to $2,734,510.

Lastly, “for all renters who feel left out, Apartment List happened to release its monthly rent report. No big surprises there, as NYC remains one of the most expensive cities for renters in the country, with a two-bedroom boasting a median rent of $4,100 and one bedrooms costing $3,200. Chelsea was the most expensive neighborhood for renters over the past month, with a two-bedroom costing $6,500 and a one-bedroom at $4,400. The West Village experienced the fastest-growing rents, at a 3.1 percent increase over last year. There, the median rent for a one-bedroom was $3,800.”

Since most of us aren’t following the real estate market to the extent that Keith is we are likely shocked to read about the massive pre-foreclosure data, especially since all we hear about is the current state of the “exciting” NYC real estate markets. Although it often appears that we are trying to touch the heavens with the height of our buildings, I can assure you that prices cannot continue to skyrocket for too long, while outpacing wage growth!  We’ve seen this story before, and the ending was pretty gruesome!