Uber and Lyft are changing where rich people buy homes in New York City

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January 4, 2018 9:06 PM

Wealthy New York City homebuyers have turned "neighborhood agnostic," according to luxury real estate broker Leonard Steinberg.

Luxury real estate broker Leonard Steinberg has sold over
But Uber and Lyft, Steinberg says, are changing where wealthy people buy homes in the city.
He said it's because luxury buyers can use ride-sharing to get from place to place without losing out on productivity.

We recently spent a day with Steinberg, and when we asked what New York City neighborhood was currently the most popular among buyers, he had a surprising answer.

"Buyers have become more and more neighborhood agnostic than at any other time in history," he said. "[A buyer] will look at an apartment in SoHo, Hudson Yards, Upper East Side, and Tribeca."

The reason? Steinberg accredits ride-hailing apps such as Uber, Lyft, and Juno for this shift in mindset.

"Today, in our Uber-tech world — I [can be] in the back of a car with my iPhone, and I'm not losing out on anything. That has changed [commutes] dramatically. Your commute time is not lost productivity," he said.

"Time is the last luxury. If you can not lose time, you can live in many places," he said.

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