New York Real Estate Appraisers Still Digging Out After Year-End Selloff

For most, real estate appraisal is an up-and-down business, and demand depends on a great number of factors: time of year, up economy, down economy, unemployment, and so forth. Normally appraisers will have a “busy season,” but appraisers in New York City are still reeling from last quarter’s frenzied apartment selloff in anticipation of the country’s going over the fiscal cliff.

Apartments in New York are not like apartments in other parts of the country. There is so much demand for them that apartments are bought and sold just like homes or condos, often with million-dollar price tags.

With fear of the fiscal cliff looming, thousands of apartment owners in New York City rushed to offload their apartments before tax rates went up, creating chaos in the real

estate market that is just now starting to calm down. Those who were able to close deals before December 31st did end up saving a bundle, as the fiscal cliff deal lifted capital gains taxes from 15% to 20%. But the ripple effect of all that selling affected everyone connected with the real estate industry, from buyers and sellers to brokers and, of course, appraisers.

The deal mania was so strong that “in the first week of December we

had to stop accepting appraisal assignments,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel.

With all that extra business, hopefully that means some New York real

estate appraisers can afford a well-deserved vacation.

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