REAL ESTATES FORUM

The New York Times
January 3, 2008

Apartment Prices in Manhattan Defy National Real Estate Slide
By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

As the housing market across the country continued to stagnate in the fourth
quarter of last year, the market in Manhattan set a record, according to
reports to be released on Thursday by four of the cityąs major real estate
brokerage firms.

The average price for an apartment reached $1.4 million in the last quarter
of 2007, up 17.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, according to data
tracked by the brokerage firm Prudential Douglas Elliman.

The reports noted, however, that average prices were being pushed to record
levels because of the increasing number of apartments selling at the top end
of the market, above $10 million.

Many other indicators also showed that the Manhattan sales market remained
strong: the number of apartment sales jumped by 3.2 percent, compared with
the same time period the year before; apartments sold an average of 18 days
faster than they did a year ago; and the inventory of apartments for sale
shrunk by 13.5 percent.

łEvery single indicator that we tracked showed a gain,