YOUR APARTMENT WOULD BE WORTH A LOT LESS

September 11 prompted this housing boom. Just before 9/11 we were in a recession; housing prices began to fall and volume really dropped off. We would have seen a continuation of a slide throughout much of the next two years. A run-up occurred as the result of the Fed’s post-9/11 action to drop interest rates, which led to a sharp decrease in mortgage rates. It’s that decrease that ultimately led to the price appreciation we’ve seen.

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• Archive: “Cover Story”
• Articles by John Heilemann
• Table of Contents: Aug 21, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!