Welcome to the EMB Monthly, my monthly newsletter! Coming to your inbox once a month, you’ll find pertinent real estate information and a market update, as well as a fun new recipe to try, an update from the sports world, and for six months of the year, my Summer Concert Series!
Good news for home buyers: the Covid days of bidding wars on every property for sale seem to behind us, as sellers seem more willing to negotiate. If you're considering a move, now is a great time.
Please don’t hesitate to call, text or email me at any time to discuss any real estate related topics, I love answering your questions!
Best, Erika Matera Banoun
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Licensed Real Estate Salesperson — New York
Sales Associate – New Jersey
O. 212.381.2374 | C. 201.362.7000
ebanoun@bhsusa.com |
The holiday season may be over, but Bryant Park is still a Winter Wonderland. And in honor of the ongoing Winter Olympics, the park has transformed into a Winter games hangout, complete with live broadcasts inside The Lodge, themed programming and interactive experiences.
One of those experiences includes trying your hand at the fan-favorite Winter Olympics sport of curling. In 2020, Bryant Park debuted the Curling Café as a reservation-only, lounge style setup. After several seasons, the cozy Curling Café has now dropped the reservations and the experience is now a free, first-come first-serve activity focused purely on curling.
Go with a group and take your best shot. There are no advanced bookings mandatory and no food or drink minimums. Open now until February 26th from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the curling lanes are located just east of the skating rink.
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Good news for any potential homebuyers! After the Covid pandemic home buying frenzy where bidding wars saw homes sell for tens of thousands of dollars over the asking price, the US housing market is starting to shift back in favor of home buyers rather than sellers.
According to an analysis by Redfin, last year nearly two out of three buyers purchased their homes at a discount to the original listing price, representing the highest proportion since 2019. By comparison, 22.8% of home buyers last year paid over the asking price, the lowest share since 2019.
The average discount for the homes that sold below their original listing price was the largest since 2012, at around 8% and one out of four buyers who got a discount were able to get 10% or more off the list price, also the highest since 2012.
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It's been a busy month in the sports world. The 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off a week and a half ago and are set to conclude on Sunday. American Breezy Johnson took gold in the women's downhill after three-time Olympian Lindsey Vonn crashed out and broke her leg. Teammate Mikaela Shiffrin is still medal-less at this Olympics, with her last chance to medal tomorrow in the slalom event.
In snowboarding, American Chloe Kim took silver in the halfpipe and Red Gerard will try tomorrow to become the first snowboarder to win two Olympic gold medals in Slopestyle after he won gold in 2018 and placed 4th in 2022.
American Jordan Stolz not only took gold in both the Men's 1000m and Men's 500m speed skating events, but he also set Olympic records for both events as well. And in the women's monobob event, Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Kaillie Armbruster Humphries took gold and bronze, respectively.
And the figure skating events have brought all the drama. In the team event, the US won gold behind performances from Madison Chock & Evan Bates, Ellie Kim & Daniel O'Shea, Ilia Malinin, Alysa Liu, and Amber Glenn. In the ice dance event, Chock & Bates took silver, missing out on gold to the French team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron in an event that has been plagued by controversy over a French judge's scoring decisions. And in an even bigger shock, gold medal favorite Ilia Malinin had an unfortunate performance in his free skate, falling to 8th place. The women's short program took place earlier today, and American Alysa Liu is currently sitting in third place. The women will perform their free skates on Thursday, with medals on the line.
Still to come, the men's hockey quarterfinals start tomorrow, and Team USA will play Sweden at 3:10 p.m. EST. And the women's hockey gold medal game will be a rematch of the 2022 Olympics gold medal game in which Team Canada beat Team USA 3-2. The gold medal game will be on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. EST.
And in case that wasn't enough, some non-Olympic news. The Seattle Seahawks unfortunately beat my New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on February 8th. |
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The weather this winter in the northeast has been downright frigid. Temperatures are way below freezing, and if you’re anything like me you’ve probably been eating a lot of soup. So, when you’re wanting something warm but not the same old chicken soup, try this French onion soup instead. French Onion Soup Ingredients (makes 4 servings): |
- ½ cup of unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 4 cups of sliced yellow onions
- 5 cups of beef broth
- 2 tbsp of dry sherry
- 1 tsp of dried thyme
- Pinch of salt, to taste
- Pinch of pepper, to taste
- 4 slices of French bread
- Gruyere cheese (or any other cheese/cheese combination that you’d prefer)
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Directions: In a large stock pot over medium heat melt the butter, then pour in the olive oil. Add the onions and stir constantly, until they are tender and translucent. Do not brown the onions.
Once the onions are soft, add in the beef broth, sherry and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Let the soup simmer.
While the soup simmers, pre-heat your oven’s broiler.
Once the soup has simmered for 30 minutes, ladle it into oven-safe serving bowls. Place one slice of French bread on top of each bowl and then layer with cheese on top. You can add as much or as little cheese as you’d like. Place the bowls on a rimmed pan, to avoid soup spilling over into your oven.
Broil the soup in the oven until cheese bubbles and browns slightly, about 2-3 minutes.
Grab a spoon and enjoy! |
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