I don't konw much about urban RE, but wondering what people thought about city prices past 2 decades and if this can persist. I have observed that NYC did not experience much of a correction in RE prices in the high end. Many properties trading at 1000-2000% 1996 prices even throughout the financial crisis. You could have bought a 4 story townhouse in '96 for $400k and they are now trading at 5-10 million downtown and upperwest side and I still see transactions going through at these price. In fact, many properties gained in pricing as I've seen condos exchanging hands in 07-'10 +20-30% each time it's changed hands. I wonder if this is normal, maybe a function of wealth gap? I know Tokyo Japan is one of the most expensive places to live on the planet even after their financial crisis in the 90's, their downtown RE prices continued to soar after zero growth in their economy.
Plenty of money in NY, no interest from deposits, accelerating inflation, monetary easing policies, foreigners buying up properties in the US and wall streeters doing better than ever. All are some factors working to keep prices up