Real estate market soars in Downtown Brooklyn since height of pandemic

(Source: nypost.com)  

By Jesse O’Neill | July 8, 2021 

The real estate market in Downtown Brooklyn is resurgent after COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the country and the economy.

Homes in the neighborhood have risen in value since the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with median prices up 79 percent this year compared to the second quarter of last year, a PropertyShark study released Wednesday found.

Buyers could expect to snag an apartment for $765,000 between April and June last year, but during the last three months the median price has skyrocketed to $1,368,000, the study said.

The neighborhood also went from the 42nd most expensive in the boroughs to the city’s 13th priciest in just one spin around the sun, according to the findings.

Hudson Yards was the costliest area of the city, with median home prices at $5,710,000, the study found.

Tribeca and Soho rounded out the top three, as Manhattan neighborhoods dominated the top ten.

Dumbo came in ninth on the list, and was the most expensive neighborhood in the outer-boroughs, with a median home price of $1,490,000.

One-third of Americans plan to retire later due to Covid-19, study finds

(Source: cnbc.com)

MON, JUN 14 202110:38 AM EDT

Lorie Konish@LORIEKONISH

KEY POINTS

• The Covid-19 pandemic has hurt some Americans’ confidence that they can meet their retirement goal date on time.
  
  
• Among those feeling the most negative effects are women and pre-retirees.
  
  
• Even so, many Americans say the pandemic was a financial wake-up call that prompted them to rethink how they plan for their futures.

It’s no secret that Covid-19 has upended people financially at all stages of life.

Now, one new report shows just how the pandemic has changed the way people think about retirement.

The study from Age Wave and Edward Jones finds that about 1 out of every 3 Americans who are planning to retire now say that will happen later due to Covid-19.

About 69 million Americans now say Covid-19 prompted them to change their retirement timing. That’s up slightly from 68 million as of May 2020.

The results come from three tracking surveys that were conducted between May 2020 and March 2021. The latest poll was conducted in March, and included 2,042 adults ages 18 and up.

The research shows people have adjusted their approaches to retirement in some important ways.

Retirement savings disrupted

About 14 million Americans have stopped contributing to their retirement accounts every month as of this March, the research found.

That’s an improvement from December, when 22 million people said they had paused their retirement savings.

Women’s saving suffers

A so-called she-cession is poised to make the already existing financial gender gap worse.

Just 41% of women say they are saving each month for retirement, versus 58% of men.

Meanwhile, the retirement savings confidence gap between genders has grown wider. The study found that 56% of male pre-retirees say they are secure in their retirement savings, compared to 40% of women. While confidence has improved, it still hasn’t reached pre-pandemic levels from January 2020, when 61% of men and 54% of women said they were sure of their retirement savings.

Pre-retirees feel negative effects

The research also found that pre-retirees were more negatively impacted by the pandemic compared to retirees, 44% versus 22%. respectively.

Retirees fared better because they were able to fall back on Social Security and Medicare. At the same time, 78% own their own homes.

Health-care costs, including long-term care, consistently ranked as the No. 1 retirement concern for pre-retirees, with 66% in both May 2020 and March 2021.

Financial wake-up call

Of those surveyed, 61% of retirees said they wish they had done a better job planning for retirement financially.

Overall, 70% of Americans said the pandemic has been a financial wake-up call that has prompted them to pay more attention to their long-term money plans.

Meanwhile, Americans’ financial confidence seems to be bouncing back, with 57% now giving themselves an A or B grade on their finances, up from 50% in May 2020.

Retirement aspirations strong

Despite savings challenges, many Americans still have big hopes for their golden years.

Of those surveyed, 56% said they see retirement as a new chapter in life, while 21% said it’s a time for rest and relaxation.

These Are the States Recovering Fast From the Pandemic

(Source: 247wallst.com)

Douglas A. McIntyre
June 4, 2021 

Nearly 9 million jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic have not been recovered. Jobless claims by week, a regularly used measure of people who have lost jobs, were well over a million a week beginning last April. The numbers have dropped fairly consistently and have reached the lowest level since the pandemic plunge. Last week’s 385,000 figure was better than expected.

The next big measure of jobs in America is the monthly unemployment numbers for May, which will be released today.

The recovery across states has been uneven. When measured by monthly unemployment, states with strong tourism industries, like Hawaii and Nevada, have been hit hard. On the other hand, Utah and Nebraska have had jobless rates below 3% for some time. That is as strong as the jobs economy was in 2019, which in turn was the best in five decades.

WalletHub looked at jobless claims by state for last week. The states that recovered the most last week had no geographic or population size pattern.

1. South Carolina
2. Wyoming
3. Vermont
4. South Dakota
5. Arkansas
6. North Dakota
7. Kansas
8. New York
9. Arizona
10. Minnesota

Perhaps it is good news that the pattern does not restrict the recovery to one region. It is a sign that the job recovery is relatively even. The same is true with states with the poorest recoveries.

1. Maryland
2. District of Columbia
3. Utah
4. Georgia
5. Alaska
6. Oklahoma
7. Virginia
8. New Mexico
9. Delaware
10. Rhode Island