Manhattan real estate sales set a record in the fourth quarter of 2007, with residential sales averaging out to be $1.4 million (according to data from Prudential Douglas Elliman), an increase of 17.6% over 2006's fourth quarter. However impressive that statistic is, the growth was primarily driven by super high-end sales of at least $10 million. Apparently sales for condos at The Plaza and 15 Central Park West helped drive the average condo sale......

Sure, there are worries about the credit market and subprime mortgage situation, but real estate brokerages around the city are basking in good news: Third-quarter Manhattan apartment closings were at the highest average price ever and home inventory tightened as well. The average price for a Manhattan apartment was $1.37 million and the average price for a condo is $1.6 million, with the different brokerage saying that it's anywhere from 16-38% higher than the previous......

No, seriously-- check this photo I'm Not Saying just sent in: This is the Northside Piers project at Kent and 5th. DEVELOPING. Update: BNN reports-- "164 KENT AVE & NORTH 5TH ST| ALL FIRE HAS BEEN XTGH'ED, PRIMARY SEARCH ON THE TOP FLOOR(S) IS (-)" That's good news-- especially if you bought an apartment in the building! Update: Mihow has another angle-- check out that billowing smoke! Update: I'm Not Saying has put up a......

A staple of urban difficulties are the financial and personal reviews of aspiring co-op buyers. The board review process before a purchase can be approved can be Torquemada-esque, where future hopeful neighbors are one's inquisitors. We wrote about the process last month and how lawmakers want to require co-op boards to provide specific reasons why some applicants are rejected from living in a building. The traditional alternative to the co-op review process for buyers of......

If it's April, it's time to get quarterly real estate data. The NY Times reports that the "prices and number of apartments selling in Manhattan rose" during the beginning of the year. Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property say sales were up 12% versus 2006's 4th quarter. And in an amusing example of how different data can be, BHS and HP say prices rose 6%, but Prudential Douglas Elliman says prices rose 5.4% and......

It's possibly the most famous couple to sue over bed bugs: Saturday Night Live star Maya Rudolph and auteur Paul Thomas Anderson claim that their SoHo rental was infested with the vermin and are now suing Halstead Property and the owner, Francis Feeney! They were paying $13,500/month for a Greene Street loft (plus two months' rent, security deposit, broker's fee), but found themselves (and their baby!) bitten. Ew. The exterminator told them they would have......