Raphael Stevens

Manhattan home price declines are a result of rising inventory of apartments for sale, which are also taking longer to sell.
The gap between buyer and seller expectations is narrowing, and more deals are closing.
High rents in Manhattan are also helping sales as many potential buyers who were waiting out the sales market in rentals are finally deciding to buy.

A sign advertising a home for sale is displayed outside of a Manhattan building in New York City on April 11, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Manhattan is becoming a buyer’s market as apartment prices fell and inventory rose in the second quarter of 2024, according to new reports.
The average real estate sales price in Manhattan fell 3% to just more than $2 million, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The median price fell 2% to $1.2 million, and prices for luxury apartments fell for the first time in more than a year, according to the report.

The price declines are a result of rising inventory of apartments for sale, which are also taking longer to sell. There are now more than 8,000 apartments for sale in Manhattan, which is higher than the 10-year average of about 7,000, according to Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, the appraisal and research firm.
Manhattan now has a 9.8 month supply of apartments for sale, which means it would take 9.8 months to sell all of the apartments on the market without any new listings, according to Brown Harris Stevens. “Any number over 6 months tells us there is too much supply and we are in a buyer’s market,” according to the Brown Harris Stevens report.
The falling prices and rising number of unsold apartments in Manhattan stand in contrast to the national real estate landscape, where continued tight supply continues to keep prices high. Brokers and real estate analysts say the strong prices in Manhattan post-Covid became unsustainable, and both buyers and sellers are finally capitulating to a higher interest rate environment.

The sun sets on the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building in New York City, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, on April 23, 2023.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

“The buyers and sellers resolve is weakening,” Miller said. “At a certain point, they can only wait so long before they feel like they have to make a move.”
With the gap narrowing between buyer and seller expectations, more deals are closing. There were 2,609 sales in the second quarter, up 12% from a year ago, according to the Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel report. That marked the first sales rebound in two years.

“As the second quarter began, New York’s real estate market awakened from the doldrums in which it had languished for the first quarter of 2024. Deals in all price categories began to emerge,” said Frederick Warburg Peters, President Emeritus of Coldwell Banker Warburg.
High rents in Manhattan are also continuing to help sales. The average apartment rental price in May was still upward of $5,100 a month and rents tend to rise in the late summer. Many potential buyers who were waiting out the sales market in rentals are finally deciding to buy, hoping interest rates will start to come down at the end of 2024 or early 2025.
“If people were sitting on the fence, the high rents maybe helped push them into the sales market,” Miller said.
Still, mortgage rates have a more muted effect on Manhattan real estate than the rest of the country since most Manhattan sales are in cash. In the second quarter, 62% of deals were all cash.
While prices fell for all segments of the Manhattan real estate market, the high end is among the weakest, as the wealthy hold off on purchases until after the uncertainty of the elections. The median sale prices in the luxury segment — or the top 10% of the market — fell 11% in the second quarter, according to Miller Samuel. Listing inventory of luxury apartments surged 22%.
“With the high end, this weakness could be the beginning of a trend or just a one-off,” Miller said. “We will have to see what happens in the second half.” More

Starbucks Coffee shop in Krakow, Poland on February 29, 2024. 
Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Starbucks’ baristas have begun to implement its Siren Craft System, a series of changes in how orders are processed and made, the company said.
As some Americans have become cost conscious in the face of ongoing inflation, the coffee giant is working to reduce bottlenecks in stores and win back occasional customers. 
Starbucks said that in stores where the company has used the Siren system to optimize operations, it has seen an increase in peak throughput, which it estimates will boost same-store sales annually.

Starbucks cafes across the country are starting to change how they make drink orders, among other tweaks designed to reduce bottlenecks and long wait times that have dogged the chain.
The overhaul comes as the coffee giant prepares for an anticipated swell of orders through its mobile app.

At the heart of the plan is Starbucks’ “Siren Craft System,” a series of processes that are aimed at making baristas’ jobs easier and speeding up service times for customers. Starbucks said more than 10% of its 10,000 stores have already implemented the system, which includes changing the production order for hot and cold drinks. It will be in use across North America by the end of July, according to the company.
Executives hope the changes will provide a much-needed jolt to Starbucks. In April, the company reported a disappointing second quarter, as U.S. same-store sales fell 3% and traffic dropped 7%. The coffee chain cut its 2024 outlook.
Starbucks reported rates of incomplete mobile app orders in the mid-teens and said occasional customers came in less. CEO Laxman Narasimhan mentioned the need to make improvements to stores.
Katie Young, senior vice president of store operations at Starbucks, said the most immediate shift that needed to happen in cafes was better handling the unexpected.
“It’s the ability to flexibly respond to things we cannot predict,” she told CNBC in an interview.

Starbucks Coffee shop in Krakow, Poland on February 29, 2024. 
Beata Zawrzel | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The store changes will be key this month, as Starbucks on Monday started opening up its app to non-rewards members, which the company believes will increase traffic and orders.
Analyst Peter Saleh, managing director at BTIG, said, “My sense is that they have a lot of demand in certain stores, and the footprint of the kitchen is so small, you have to find ways to be more efficient.”
Losing customers because of slow orders and other store frustrations could cost Starbucks at a particularly vulnerable time. Americans have become cost conscious in the face of ongoing inflation, and in some cases have pulled back on morning or afternoon beverages and snacks. Narasimhan in April said consumers are spending more cautiously.
Starbucks has done something uncharacteristic in recent weeks, joining the stream of value offerings with a $5 food and beverage combo option. Communicating value to customers is also part of the plan to drum up business. 

The Siren system

Starbucks has been diagnosing the bottleneck issue for more than a year, since the company’s reinvention plan rollout in 2022, said Young. At the time, Howard Schultz was at the helm, having returned during a burgeoning unionization movement and shifts in consumer preferences. The changes underway in cafes were first previewed that fall, to be rolled out in the years to come. Narasimhan took over for Schultz in March 2023. 
The Siren system processes were developed with worker feedback on which issues stopped them from creating beverages and connecting with customers. 
Starbucks said it plans to add a role akin to an expediter in a restaurant production line, a “play caller” who steps away from production and helps solve logjams in cafes, handling tasks such as restocking cups or helping when an unexpected crowd arrives. The company plans to train existing workers for the role or potentially add new baristas, if needed.
“One of the pain points we saw was [that] our espresso machine was often running all the time, and that was one of the things that kept our partners from being able to check in. And another thing we saw that you didn’t necessarily know was which part of the store would get crowded,” Young said. “We needed to actually have a partner that was dedicated when things got busy to pulling out of production and just helping.”
Starbucks said it will also change the order in which beverages are made. Previously, cold drinks were prioritized from start to finish, even if a hot beverage order came in first, as pulling espresso shots was the last step. This could create a traffic jam in the drive-thru, for example, if a person ordered one of each beverage, as the cold item would be ready while the hot drink was still in production. 
Macoy McLaughlin, manager of Seattle’s First and Walker Starbucks location, said producing beverages in the order they were placed allows for a faster, streamlined process.
“We actually have proper sequencing between our hot and cold bars, versus cold bars becoming as popular as ever, to really have a consistent experience for the customers. So we’re actually making them in the order they’re coming in,” McLaughlin said, adding that the cafe feels busier, but customers in store and in the drive-thru are getting drinks faster. 
Baristas also will have more control over the company’s digital production manager, an iPad system that controls the sequencing of orders in various channels from cafes, mobile orders and the drive-thru, the company said. Workers will have more flexibility over changing order priority.

Starbucks app expands

Young said the app changes added a sense of urgency to the Siren training rollout. She feels confident stores will be ready if traffic increases.
Mobile order and pay will also be available on third-party platforms to reach more customers. 
The potential increase in traffic and workloads comes as some baristas for years have raised issues about staffing and scheduling, particularly employees who have sought to organize with the Workers United union. In internal surveys and in bargaining committee meetings, union-represented workers consistently rank it as their highest priority issue.
Starbucks says it has made significant progress over the past two years on staffing and scheduling.
BTIG’s Saleh said the company has moved uncharacteristically slowly.
“The Siren System was first introduced at its investor day in 2022 with Howard [Schultz] at the helm,” said Saleh. “Historically, Starbucks doesn’t do anything slowly. They move quickly, find something they like and roll it out fast.”
Young said the Siren system changes have provided a “material reduction” in wait times for orders. Starbucks said that in stores where the company has used the Siren system to optimize operations, it has seen an increase in the number of customers served at peak times that it estimates to be worth 1 percentage point of comparable sales annually.
“We feel very confident about the investments we’ve made in our staffing system and all the precision we can bring there,” Young said. “But no system or internal efforts can predict that today, a group of high school kids decided to gather all their friends and pop in at 2 p.m., when we normally wouldn’t see a lot of business.”
The company said there will be a slower rollout of new equipment under the same Siren moniker, with a custom ice dispenser, milk-dispensing system and faster blenders to reduce steps for baristas and get drinks to customers faster. Equipment investment will take multiple years, Young said. She said that updated equipment, coupled with the new training processes in store, has led to meaningful returns on investment, and 10% of stores will have the Siren equipment by the end of the year.
Young said Starbucks wants customers to feel like wait times are better managed and that “everyone is just in a good place even when it gets busy.”
Correction: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Macoy McLaughlin’s name. More

Paramount Global leaders are having discussions with a number of companies to explore merging Paramount+, its money-losing streaming service.
Warner Bros. Discovery has interest in merging Max and Paramount+ as a joint venture, according to people familiar with the matter.
Media companies are considering new ways to better monetize streaming content after billions of dollars in losses over the last several years.

The Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, US on Monday, April 29, 2024. 
Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Paramount Global is holding talks with other entertainment companies about merging its Paramount+ streaming service with an existing platform. If it reaches a deal, it may kick off a new wave of streaming partnerships that could put the entire media industry on firmer footing.
Paramount Global leadership is having active discussions with other media and tech company executives to determine if a structure makes sense for both parties where Paramount+ can be merged with another streaming entity and potentially co-owned, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.

One of the companies that has expressed a desire to reach a deal is Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with the matter. Combining Max and Paramount+ could strengthen both services by allowing them to better compete with Netflix and Disney’s suite of platforms (Disney+, Hulu and ESPN) for eyeballs and future content.
Warner Bros. Discovery held preliminary merger talks for a deal for all of Paramount Global earlier this year, but talks didn’t escalate.
Paramount Global is also considering partnering with a technology platform, the company’s co-CEO Chris McCarthy said at an employee town hall on June 25.
“What they don’t have is our scale of content, and together we will make for a very powerful combination to drive more minutes and greater profits,” McCarthy said of a potential tech partner at the town hall, according to a transcript of the event obtained by CNBC.
A merged streaming service would mitigate churn by giving customers more diverse programming and fewer reasons to cancel each month, and it could take Paramount+ losses off Paramount Global’s balance sheet by giving it new ownership.

While a structure for a hypothetical joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t been discussed in detail, ownership likely wouldn’t be a 50-50 split given the existing natures of the streaming assets and their finances, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s direct-to-consumer business made $103 million in annual adjusted EBITDA in 2023 after losing $2.1 billion the year before. Paramount Global reported a loss of $1.67 billion in direct-to-consumer operating income before depreciation and amortization in 2023, narrower than its $1.8 billion loss a year prior.
Max has about 100 million global subscribers, with 52.7 million based in the U.S. Paramount+ ended its first quarter with 71 million subscribers.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal has also expressed interest in a joint venture with Paramount+, as The Wall Street Journal first reported earlier this year. The talks didn’t progress and never got particularly far, according to people familiar with the matter.
“The sheer volume of hit content that we could offer together would be tremendous across TV, film and sports, and would attract millions of viewers,” McCarthy said during the town hall in reference to a potential partnership with an existing subscription streaming service like Max or Peacock. “Plus, we would share in all other non-content expenses.”  
Spokespeople for Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and Paramount Global declined to comment.

Streaming 2.0

Since late 2019, traditional media companies including Paramount Global, Disney, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery have all launched streaming services that have hemorrhaged billions of dollars in losses.
There’s long been consensus in the industry that there are too many streaming services relative to the number of total paying customers. Many executives have speculated that just four or five global services can likely survive and flourish. The others would need to be consolidated or folded into existing platforms.
“There may be some combination of Paramount, Peacock and Max,” said Peter Chernin, former CEO and chairman of Fox Group, in an interview with CNBC last year.
If Paramount reaches an agreement on a joint venture with either Max or Peacock, there would be added pressure on whichever service is left out to do a deal of its own.
Media companies are now focused on better monetizing streaming content through bundles and partnerships. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have recently become more willing to license some of their content to rival streaming services, such as Netflix, to better monetize shows that aren’t adding a lot of new subscribers to their streaming services.
Comcast recently introduced a bundle of Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ for its cable, broadband and mobile customers for $15 a month.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced they plan to bundle their streaming services beginning in the summer. While the companies haven’t yet announced a price for the package, which will include Disney+, Hulu and Max, the discount will be “significant,” according to one of the people familiar with the matter.

Better windowing

Another hot topic of current discussions revolve around windowing movies and TV series through different streaming services at different price points.
This idea was something considered by Skydance Media, which nearly acquired Paramount Global before talks broke down last month.
Skydance’s plan for Paramount included merging Paramount+ with another streamer to create new streaming services which would better rationalize the assets, according to people familiar with the matter.
For example, Paramount’s Showtime library could be combined with another company’s prestige dramas to create a stand-alone ad-free service.
A different ad-supported service could then contain live sports and windowed prestige originals, which could appear on the second service after a certain amount of time. The services could be bundled together, such as how Disney bundles Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
A representative for Skydance declined to comment.

One app experience

There’s a widespread shared sentiment among traditional media leadership that better packaging of existing content can be more lucrative for the entire industry.
The downside to more bundling or windowing of content is customer confusion. Increased mix-and-match offers between streaming services can easily lead to customer frustration rather than satisfaction.
Several media executives said privately they expect Peacock, Paramount+, Max and Disney could ultimately team up their programming within one application to alleviate confusion and compete with Netflix, which dominates the subscription streaming industry with about 270 million global subscribers.
Two executives said Disney would be the most likely company to own the application, given its relative dominant position in the entertainment streaming industry. Any media company who contributed content to the streaming application could share in the revenue, similar to how cable economics work today, they added.
Still, company rivalries and tensions may make such a product difficult to put together. While Max and Disney have struck a bundling deal, Comcast and Disney have long had a strained relationship. The two parties are currently trying to unwind a joint venture — Hulu — to give Disney full control over the service that was initially co-owned by NBCUniversal, Fox and Disney.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.

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Boston Basketball Partners LLC, the ownership group behind the Boston Celtics, has put the team up for sale, according to a statement the team posted on social media site X on Monday.
The controlling family of the ownership group announced the sale of the majority stake, and expects it to be completed later this year or in early 2025.
Wyc Grousbeck led the ownership group to acquire the Celtics in 2002. He expects to remain governor of the team through 2028, when the second closing of the deal takes place.

A “Believe in Boston” flag flies during the duck boat parade celebrating the Boston Celtics’ 18th NBA championship.
Stan Grossfeld | Boston Globe | Getty Images

The 2024 National Basketball Association champions are up for sale.
The Boston Celtics’ ownership group announced Monday that it plans to sell the team, according to a statement posted to the Celtics’ account on social media site X.

The controlling family of the ownership group, Boston Basketball Partners LLC, said it intends to sell all of its shares in the team “for estate and family planning consideration.”
The sale of a majority stake is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 or early 2025, with the remainder of the sale closing in 2028, according to the statement.
As sports franchise valuations soar, the Celtics could fetch a particularly high price. The team is among the most successful and most widely followed in U.S. professional sports, and won its NBA record 18th championship last month.
This, plus the soaring cost of sports media rights, will likely lead to a valuation close to — if not more than — the record $4 billion price tag the NBA’s Phoenix Suns received in 2023, sports consultants said Monday.

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Wyc Grousbeck led a team of buyers to acquire the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. Grousbeck, a native of Massachusetts and lifelong Celtics fan, expects to remain governor of the team until the second closing in 2028.

Grousbeck is also part of the ownership group behind the tequila brand Cincoro, which includes other NBA team owners and Hall of Famer Michael Jordan.
Representatives for Grousbeck and the team did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Jaylen Brown, #7 of the Boston Celtics, shoots a three-point basket against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston on June 17, 2024.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Sports valuations, media rights climb

The Celtics became the latest NBA champions after beating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the Finals in June. It was the team’s second championship under Grousbeck’s ownership.
U.S. professional sports teams, especially those in the National Football League and NBA, have been garnering high valuations when owners sell a stake, if not the entirety of the team.
In 2023, the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury were sold to Mat Ishbia for a record valuation of $4 billion.
Meanwhile, the media rights for the leagues have never been more lucrative, as live sports beckon the biggest TV audiences.
Negotiations surrounding the NBA’s media rights are ongoing with an announcement expected soon. Comcast’s NBCUniversal is expected to pay $2.5 billion per year, with Disney’s ESPN and Amazon’s Prime Video among the other bidders, CNBC has previously reported.
— CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this article.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.

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