MarketWatch: Weekly Real Estate Update for Riverdale, Bronx – 8/11/2025 – 8/18/2025
Let’s see what the market’s doing this week in the Riverdale area of the Bronx.
Did You Know?
* What might be the next big trend home accessory? A robot home invasion to rival ALEXA? Weave Robotics have demonstrated (live) Isaac, a home robot likely priced at more than $10,000, to ship by the end of this year that autonomously folds T-shirts and pick ups cups and toys…..other tasks it might master include cooking, cleaning, cleaning surfaces, especially after cooking and bathroom cleaning… (WSJ)
* The AMAZON-backed $20,000 SLATE compact pickup truck scheduled to arrive in 2026 speaks to how affordability is achieved when you strip down design to the basics, omitting fancy finishes and extras that can add significantly to building costs….Might this same theory be applied to homes? The cost of interior finishes in construction typically represents 25-40% of the total construction budget….. The average cost to paint the exterior of a 2,000sf house ranges from $2,000 – $10,000 or more….
* What does it take to build a pier park in the Hudson River in New York City? This VIDEO shows the extraordinary efforts, time, cost, etc to build one of these parks – Pier 26 – that most people never even consider…. $37,7 million later….. (CITIBANK contribute $10 million) The pier is an ecosystem that includes a rocky salt marsh with tide pools, native plants and oysters with a deck over the area so people of all ages could watch how the habitat changed during high and low tide, as well as enjoy the beautiful views of the Hudson River and The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
* The strongest seller’s markets in the U.S. right now are:Rochester, New York
Syracuse, New York
Buffalo, New York
Hartford Connecticut
Springfield, Massachusetts
Albany, New York
Bridgeport, Connecticut
New York, New York
San Francisco, California
New Haven, Connecticut
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Providence, Rhode Island. (THE HILL)
“I am now addicted to putting money in
there and seeing how much interest the
bank pays us.”
– Possibly one upside to higher interest rates is how they have exposed people to the value of savings and compounding interest?
Mortgage Rate Updates:
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage backed by Freddie Mac fell by 5 bps from the previous week to 6.58% as of August 14th. “Mortgage rates fell to their lowest level since October. Purchase application activity is improving as borrowers take advantage of the decline in mortgage rates,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
Source: Freddie Mac
