Pfft!
Real Estate Observers note that there is no goddamned bubble in Manhattan, period:
The average sales price for a Manhattan apartment rested higher in the fourth quarter of last year than in all but one of the quarters of 2005 or 2004, the peak years of the supposed housing boom.
The median, a better market barometer, was just shy of $800,000, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel in its report for brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman. And the average price per square foot still tickled the $1,000 mark, something it’s done since late 2005.
Not only did the Manhattan market continue to be prohibitively expensive, but sales actually picked up in the fourth quarter as inventory dropped, meaning that there’s plenty of hearty, moneyed folk among us (or from well outside the five boroughs) willing to plunk down an average of $1,554,645 for a two-bedroom spread, to use one example from the Miller Samuel report.
“The only bubbles bursting are in somebody’s bathtub,” said Darren Sukenik, a top Elliman broker. He cut short a Christmas week getaway to Argentina, hustling back to the city three days early because his assistant kept getting requests for apartment showings. “It’s never busy Christmas week, ever. The buyers are definitely there.”
Ew.
Posted: January 10th, 2007 | Filed under: Manhattan, Real Estate