Reports: Manhattan Home Sales Drop Off 47-58%

Depending on which real estate brokerage's report you read, Manhattan home sales have fallen by either 47% or 58% during the first quarter of 2009. The NY Times, using the 58% number (from a Brown Harris Stevens & Halsted report), put the news in perspective this way: "The drop in sales was worse than the decline in the auto industry. In March, sales at General Motors were off 45 percent from March 2008."

It's a flurry of stats and quotes! The Post cites the 47% number—from a Prudential Douglas Elliman/Miller Samuel report—"Sales of Manhattan homes fell through the floor during the first three months of this year as the meltdown on Wall Street and the failure of banking giants like Lehman Brothers kept jittery buyers from closing deals." Prudential Douglas Elliman president Dottie Herman said, "Consumer confidence is the killer. People are scared. They have never seen anything like this."

Co-op prices are down 21-27% while condo prices are either down by 4% or up by 5%. But existing condo and co-op sale prices have dropped 20%, according to Miller Samuel's Jonathan Miller (who also told The Real Deal, "We had a sharp market reset in September. Anything that happened prior to that is not relevant to understanding the market"). Inventory swelled, perhaps because, as Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman said, "Buyers and sellers were miles apart when it came to agreeing on a price. Buyers are swinging for the fences, but we're not in a city of desperate sellers." Curbed has lots of first quarter charts to peruse. But all is not lost: Brokers are expecting (hoping) that low mortgage rates will lure buyers in—and Liebman proclaims, "Manhattan has become affordable again. It is a lot more affordable than it was six months ago."