NYC Real Estate Boom: Damn, That's One Good Looking Corpse!

On October 1, the New York Times effectively pronounced the NYC real estate market boom dead—dead, dead, dead. The exact time of death will certainly be contested as some industry insiders will continue to slam their fists against the market’s bruised chest shouting, “Live, damn you!” whereas others delivered their eulogies months ago. Nevertheless, everyone is hoping the postmortem will reveal answers to more pressing questions, such as:

1. How long will the downturn last?
2. How low will NYC property values fall?
3. What will be the long-term effects on the NYC real estate market?
4. Could a few simple lifestyle changes—including diet and exercise—have prevented this terrible loss?
5. Why did Mary-Kate Olsen's personal bodyguards arrive on the scene before the paramedics?

Of course some of the answers will be revealed with the passage of time, other answers will forever remain in the dead boom’s vacant, glass and steel grave.

Still, if a boom must end, there are some advantages to a demise so spectacular. Like any superstar knocked off its pedestal by the Grim Reaper far too soon, the dead NYC real estate market boom still looks better than the real estate market in most US cities, so there’s the good-looking corpse to be thankful for. Also, the only real difference between a superstar’s life before their death and their life after death is that everyone is much nicer to them afterward, giving them Oscar nods and such, so many industry insiders suspect that the allure of New York City will soon breathe life back into the real estate market, if not wake the dead boom.