Manhattan's real estate market

Almost overnight, investment bankers and others on Wall Street have gone from being Manhattan's most aggressive apartment buyers to real estate pariahs.

As financial services companies continue to cut jobs and bleed billions of dollars, their employees have far less cash to spend on high-priced apartments, and very little optimism about taking a risk right now anyway.

Those in the financial industry who still want to buy real estate are often unable to persuade lenders and co-op boards to work with them.

The biggest problem is that buyers who work on Wall Street no longer have the guarantee of huge bonuses to bolster their financial status. And even those who continue to get bonuses are finding that banks and co-ops will not let them count all that money as part of their income, because unlike a salary, it can fluctuate wildly.

JP Morgan Acquires $150M NYC Apartment

P & H Associates has sold The Wimbledon luxury apartment building in Manhattan to JP Morgan Investment Management in a $150 million deal.

Apartment Sales Remain Vigorous in Manhattan

Despite slowing sales and continuing economic worries, market studies released yesterday showed that the Manhattan co-op and condominium market remained strong in the peak spring selling season, with prices up 25 percent or more compared with a year ago, and overall prices roughly flat or just below record levels.

Average prices reached about $1.67 million for a Manhattan apartment in the second quarter, 1 percent to 3 percent below the record levels reported in the previous quarter, according to the series of competing market studies prepared by the major brokerage firms in New York City.

But these figures include a number of closings over the winter at two immensely expensive new condominium projects — the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue and 15 Central Park West — that drove up average prices in the first quarter.