Jacob Wood Sells New York Real Estate

04/17/2026

The office of announces pied-a-terre tax proposal on second homes valued above $5m, endorsed by

What do we know and what don't we know? What affect will this have on our market? How does Ken Griffin feel about it???

04/17/2026

Mamdani pushes pied-a-terre tax on homes valued above $5m!

A couple days ago proposed a tax on owners of second homes in NYC valued above $5m, notably with the support of . The proposed rate structure would be based on a 2019 proposal that included a sliding scale from 0.5% on properties valued $5–6 million and up to 4% on properties valued above $25 million. Notably different would be an inventory type differentiation, with townhouses taxed at .5%–4% of market value above $5m, and condo / co-ops 10%–13.5% of assessed value above $300k. The distinction is important: the assessed value of apartments for tax purposes is usually around only 4% of their actual market value. Meaning the owner of a condo will have a fraction of the pied-a-terre tax liability as the owner of a townhouse. This is a fundamental flaw in the structure of the proposal as it currently stands and is likely to draw scrutiny in Albany. The tax is projected to affect around 13,000 homeowners and raise around $500m annually. This is less than 10% of the $5.4B budget deficit Mamdani inherited from his predecessor, but every little bit helps.

The Mayor made his announcement video in front of Ken Griffin's $238m penthouse purchased in 2019, which would incur an additional annual tax liability of around $1.1m as the proposal is currently written.

To discern the effect this additional tax is likely to have on the luxury submarket, Griffin's home is a useful example. A $1.1m tax liability increase would nearly double his amortized fixed-cost monthly outlay (RE tax + common charges). This would undoubtedly cause a value contraction for the average-priced apartment. But... when Griffin purchased the home in 2019 he himself readily admitted it would never appraise near what he bought it for. It wasn't a value purchase, it was a vanity purchase. Luxury pied-a-terre owners don't buy for the same reason one might invest in a treasury bond or mutual fund, they do so for the same reason they might buy fine art or a classic car. They're spending a smaller percentage of their income and net worth on their purchase than the average NYC buyer (Griffin's 2019 purchase amounted to only 14% of his annual income), and their real estate purchase decision-making process isn't likely to depend much on any perception of market value.

The NYC luxury market has just completed it's third fiscal quarter in a row of banner-performance, all after the next mayor and his policies were a foregone conclusion. Luxury buyers' current financial position has never been better. Continuing to use Griffin as an example, he just closed on another NYC luxury real estate purchase, his second home at 740 Park Ave specifically, for $38m... almost double what the seller paid for it in 2019.

04/01/2026

03/30/2026

While the NYC real estate market isn't as affected by macroeconomic trends as the US market as a whole, this article by in with expert commentary from Coldwell Banker CEO highlights a theme our market has been dealing with over the last ten years: dysfunctional Federal Government policy trumps normal market cycles... no pun intended.

From the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, to the pandemic, to interest rate volatility following the collapse of First Republic, to 'Liberation Day', and now to the Iran War, our market has been stymied by ill-conceived Federal Government policy. Competent leadership is integral to a sustained, healthy economy. May cooler heads (somewhere) prevail before our economy -- to say nothing of our geopolitical standing -- suffer further.

03/30/2026

Manhattan Luxury Market Update | Week of March 23rd
The Manhattan luxury market picked up a little with 33 contracts signed above $4 million... 4 more than the previous week. Condos outsold co-ops, 23-5, with 5 townhouse in the mix.

03/24/2026

NEW LISTING OF THE WEEK:

895 West End Ave 1B
Bloomingdale / Upper West Side
Classic-7
Ask: $2.895M

In looking over new listings for UWS 3 & 4 bed buyers, this one caught my eye.

Parlor level homes in historic buildings such as 895 WEA can be wonderful opportunities. High ceilings, excellent light elevated about seven feet up from street level (almost a full floor), lower maintenance than higher floors, and potentially great value as less savvy buyers misunderstand the numbering, thinking the home is on street-level.

This particular home offers a gorgeous renovation, preserving the original detail, and including an HVAC which is a real premium in a pre-war building whose infrastructure doesn't lend itself to central air installation. The butler's pantry and broken up flow between the living and dining rooms can be awkward in classic-7s that keep their original layout, although this renovation and staging manages it well.

The UWS market has picked up over the past month and I don't expect this one to be around for very long. .
Listing courtesy of

03/23/2026

Manhattan Luxury Market Update | March 16th - 22nd
Manhattan luxury slowed slightly last week, with 29 contracts signed above $4M... 3 more than the previous week and 2 fewer than this same week last year. Condos led the market 21–7, with one townhouse in the mix.

03/12/2026

What 'chall know about !? I didn't know anything about them until seeing them at last night and they are fantastic. They've been around a little over 10 years, out of Boone, NC of all places.

02/27/2026

The Q4 Manhattan & Brooklyn Market Report is Out!

While Manhattan new dev rebounded in Q3 with sales activity up 20% year-over, the Manhattan coop market finally saw life as well in Q4. Activity was up 9%, prices up 6%, and supply up 5%... stronger on all fronts.

Brooklyn supply is so tight pricing has flattened out. There are plenty of buyers willing to pay more for Brooklyn... if only there were more homes for them to buy!

https://bit.ly/4kWsFEc for full report.

01/25/2026

Alex Pretti died a hero. He saw a woman being assaulted by multiple men, knowing full well that these men were armed, emotionally unstable, and supported by immunity from the most powerful entity on earth, the US government, and stepped in to help.

He was legally filming Secret State Police assaulting an innocent civilian, and legally carrying a firearm. The Gestapo assaulted him, beat him, disarmed him, and then executed him in the street, with the public watching.

ICE and DHS serve no legitimate purpose. Their sole purpose is to act as an extra-judicial, armed force exclusively on the behalf of Trump, an anti-democratic, fascist authoritarian who is using their presence in battleground states to extort those state governments to turn over their voter rolls, in an attempt to rig the '26 and '28 elections.

The US government is at war with its own citizens. The people of Minnesota are setting an admirable example of how to properly resist. My hope for the rest of us, myself included, is that we can follow their example when our turn comes... and it will.

Long live Silverio Villegas González, Renée Good, Alex Pretti, and the 36 people who've died in ICE or DHS custody since Jan 2025.

01/25/2026

ran the half-marathon this morning... in the sweltering heat! She trained through the snow in Brooklyn too. Hardcore. As always, I'm immensely proud of her and in awe of her bad-assery.