If you think the weather's fine, just dive in. (Flickr photo by SuperFantastic)
There is a pretty strong likelihood that soon-to-be released second-quarter reports will show strong sales in Manhattan along with prices that have more than held their own.
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday that sales of Manhattan apartments were 80 percent higher than one year earlier during the second quarter. The pace was the fastest since the summer of 2008, an illustration that the market has been recovering during the spring selling season, according to writer Josh Barbanel.
He also quoted unnamed “analysts” as saying they expected to see that prices had risen a bit, too, when brokerage reports are released. In fact, they proved to be generally flat.
From what I have observed, however, the second-quarter surge occurred most during the first month and has faded as of now.
No one can say whether prices will slide again in the near or more distant future, though it is anecdotally evident that sales right now are sluggish over all. For example, although the New York Times chronicled growing interest in large so-called “family” apartments, a glut of studios and one-bedroom units persists.
For buyers, the current situation looks to me like good news for a number of reasons. Continue reading
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