EW YORK CITY-As a gauge of the multifamily sector’s health, a trio of new reports on Manhattan apartment-unit sales offer some encouraging indicators and dovetail with a recent report on the island’s rental market and Real Capital Analytics data on apartment property transactions nationwide. The fourth-quarter 2009 Prudential Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market Overview shows volume up 10.9% over the prior quarter, while both Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales and the Corcoran Group say Q4 closings showed a year-over-year gain. Inventory levels have also dropped, says the Douglas Elliman report, which is prepared by Miller Samuel.
“This quarter, there is reason to be hopeful that the significant devaluation we have tracked since the demise of Lehman Brothers is coming to an end,” writes Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman in her firm’s report, prepared in partnership with PropertyShark.com. Although Q4 prices ebbed on both a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis, “the rate of decline has slowed,” says Hall F. Willkie, president of Brown Harris Stevens, in a release.
New York City 2010
