Halstead Property

Manhattan's Real Estate Market Stays Hot

BY MICHAEL CLANCY, amNew York City Editor

The real estate market in the rest of the country may be tanking, but Manhattan's remained strong in the first three months of the year, according to reports released by the city's largest brokerage houses.

The average sales price of a Manhattan condo or co-op increased 5.4 percent over the last quarter of 2006, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman report. Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property said prices in the first three months of 2007 inched up 6 percent in the same period.

The average sales price in the Manhattan market was $1.29 million, up from $1.22 million in the same quarter of 2006, according to Prudential.

The strong start to the year was fueled by record Wall Street profits and foreign buyers, among other factors, said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, an appraisal firm, which wrote the Prudential report.

The sub-prime mortgage scandal, which is fueling a housing dip across the country, did not have much effect on the New York market, whose buyers are more well-heeled than the buyers with bad credit stuck in the sub-prime market, Miller said.

"Our primary industry, Wall Street, the financial services, is its fourth consecutive year of higher bonuses than the year before. The last two years were record years for bonuses," Miller said. "We are also benefiting from an international ground because of the weak dollar."

The sub-prime mortgage scandal could effect New York if banks decide to get tighten lending standards in all segments of the mortgage market, said Miller, who expects housing prices to rise again this year.

"You have a market where you had a surge in demand, inventory is less than it was a year ago -- and that is just the first quarter," said Miller. "I would anticipate a very active spring." 

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007