New quarter, same old story: As the rest of the country’s housing markets falter, Manhattan and Brownstone Brooklyn continue to thrive. Reports from the city’s major brokerages show that average sale prices in Manhattan reached record highs in the third quarter, while inventory declined. The average price for a Manhattan apartment was $1.37 million, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman’s report. And Brooklyn prices rose 11 percent in July, August and September as compared to 2006—a turnaround from the dip they posted in the second quarter. There was also a rise in the total number of Brooklyn sales over the same period last year, according to the Corcoran Group’s report—484 co-ops and condos sold, as compared to 377 in 2006; townhouse and single-family home sales, meanwhile, were up a whopping 63 percent. The median price of a single-family home in Brooklyn was $1.275 million, according to Corcoran’s report. Some analysts said a future drop in prices hinges on whether the credit crisis wreaks havoc on job hiring and Wall Street bonuses, and that market turmoil wouldn’t have had an impact on third quarter sales stats anyway. Housing is a trailing indicator of economic conditions, said Jonathan Miller, executive vice president and director of research for Radar Logic Inc., which prepared Prudential Douglas Elliman’s report. We most likely won’t see a reaction until after the new year to the credit crunch.
Home Prices Buck Trend, for Now [NY Times]
Pre-Credit Crunch Apartment Prices Increase [NY Sun]
Manhattan Real Estate Bubble Hasn’t Burst [Newsday]
Photo of Pierrepont Street brownstones by Frank Lynch.