4Q Manhattan Housing Reports: Where's That Cliff Already?Three major Manhattan housing market reports for the fourth quarter of 2008 were released on Monday, the first ones that can at least somewhat gauge the impact of the financial crisis. (All involve deals closed in the final three months of last year, but perhaps negotiated many months prior.) The reports suggest a market definitely impacted by the national recession; but also one that, while down from the points of view of sellers and developers, isn't yet at the cats-and-dogs-living-together phase of pricing and sales freefall. The average Manhattan apartment, for one thing, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the reports, still costs from $1,449,621 to $1,649,000. Herewith here·with adv. 1. Along with this. 2. By this means; hereby. herewith Adverb Formal together with this: , in no particular order: Prudential Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Vital stats Average apartment sales price: $1,485,102 Median sales price: $900,000 Average sales price per square foot: $1,183 The Take-Away take·a·way n. 1. A concession, as in a lower level of health benefits, made by a labor union to a company in negotiating a new contract. 2. Report author Jonathan Miller This article is about the British physician, theatre and opera director, and television presenter; for other people named Jonathan Miller, see Jonathan Miller (disambiguation). Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller , president of CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Miller Samuel, in an emailed analysis: There was a decline in price levels and the number of sales of re-sale apartments. Due to a surge in new-development closing activity in the current quarter and a lull in activity in the prior year quarter, the number of new-development closings and price levels rose over the period; however, these sales reflect the market 12 to 18 months ago. In contrast to the more modest trends of closed sales, contract activity in the current quarter was marked by a sharp decline in sales activity and price levels. A periodic sampling of sales contracts Sales Contract Contract between a seller and buyer for the sale of goods, services, or both. showed a decline of 35% to 75% compared to the same period last year. Current contract price levels show an average decline of 20% from August 2008. Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property Vital stats Average co-op sales price: $1,103,952 Average condo sales price: $1,713,124 Average sales price per square foot for townhouses: $1,550 The Take-Away Report author Gregory Heym, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the for Terra Holdings, the brokerages' parent company, in the report's intro: Closing prices for Manhattan apartments averaged $1,449,621 during the fourth quarter, up slightly from a year ago but down 2% from the third quarter. While closings at 15 Central Park West and The Plaza had inflated prices over the past few quarters, this was not the case during the fourth quarter. Removing these two buildings brings the average price down just $24,230 to $1,425,391, which would be up 2% from the comparable third quarter figure and the second highest figure on record. ... New developments continued to account for a higher percentage of closings during the fourth quarter. Comprising 42% of all sales, and 72% of condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. sales, they sold for an average price of $1,717,115, 3% higher than the prior quarter. As we have pointed out in previous reports, these deals are typically negotiated far in advance of when they close. On average, new developments that closed during the fourth quarter had their contract signed on Nov. 16, 2007. The Corcoran Group and PropertyShark Vital stats Average sales price for existing apartments: $1,275,000 Median sales price for existing apartments: $759,000 Average price per square foot for existing apartments: $1,073 The Take-Away Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman in the report's intro: The Fourth Quarter is usually not the busiest one for property closings, since its resale resale n. selling again, particularly at retail. In many states a "resale license" or "resale number" is required so that the state can monitor the collection of sales tax on retail sales. RESALE. contracts are signed in the always-slow Third Quarter (when people are off for summer vacation Summer vacation (also called summer holidays or summer break) is a vacation in the summertime between school years in which students are off for 3 months, depending on the country and district. or starting the new school year they don’t think much about moving house). But with so few transactions in the pipeline, downward pressure on prices will continue until a sense of urgency is restored for buyers. For this reason, it is important to consider new developments in the proper context, because most of their contracts were signed in 2006 and 2007 before the current economic slowdown For articles with similar titles, see Slow Down (disambiguation). A slowdown is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. was upon the market in such force. Prices of new development properties were strongly higher as several signicant buildings – such as 995 Fifth Avenue and 170 East End Avenue – reached the finish line this quarter after several years of work. 
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