An analysis conducted by the New York Times shows that the value of Trump real estate emblazoned with his name in New York City plummeted after he was elected president—including the condos of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.Sarah Yenesel/EFE/ZUMA
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Trump brags about pretty much everything—but particularly his wealth and his real estate.
That was the basis of the civil fraud trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, which culminated on Friday when a judge ruled Trump must pay $355 million—or $453.5 million with interest, according toNBC News—after finding him liable of fraudulently inflating his net worth and the values of his properties to get good deals on bank loans and insurance policies. (He said, for example, that his Mar-a-Lago estate was valued at $1 billion—about $970 million more than a Palm Beach county tax appraisal that found it was worth between $18 million and $27 million.)
But a report published by the New York Times on Sunday—based on sales data from two real estate tracking firms and an analysis by an economist at Columbia University—reveals that Trump-branded real estate has taken a hit in his hometown of New York City following his 2016 election.
Condominiums in buildings with Trump’s name on them plummeted in value during the one-year period before and after the election, going from selling at a one percent premium compared to similar units to selling for four percent less, according to the Times. Over the ten-year period from 2013 to 2023, the contrast was even starker: the seven Manhattan buildings till emblazoned with the Trump name dropped in value by 23 percent, according to the real estate website CityRealty. That includes the famous Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, where he infamously descended the escalator to launch his 2016 campaign: the average price per square foot of its condos fell by nearly 50 percent since 2013, according to CityRealty.
Meanwhile, condos in four buildings that took down their Trump logos after hundreds of tenants signed petitions in support of the move shot up in value by nine percent during the same decade, compared to the eight percent increase the Manhattan market saw, the Times notes.
“This analysis cleanly identifies that it is the Trump brand that is responsible for the value deterioration,” Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a Columbia University professor of real estate, told the Times. “Removing the Trump name from the building removes the loss associated with the name.”
Trump’s son, Eric, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, responded to the Times by questioning the validity of their analysis.
“Data can be manipulated to tell any story you want, but the fact remains that our buildings sell for the highest prices per square foot of any properties in the world. That is undeniable,” he told the Times in an emailed statement. “This year alone, Trump International Hotel & Tower New York closed on a $17 million unit, exceeding the prices at Time Warner, Essex House and the most prestigious properties in the city.” (Records show that Trump real estate is far from the most expensive in the city, the Times notes.)
Based on Trump’s latest legal troubles in New York City—for which he currently owes more than $536 million—that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
