4th Quarter 2009 Manhattan Residential Market Report - Prepared by Miller Samuel

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The just-released Fourth Quarter 2009 Prudential Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market Overview reveals growing sales activity in the Manhattan Housing Market.

Buyers, sellers and real estate professionals are slowly adapting to the new market. The fourth quarter of 2009 was a continuation of the third quarter which saw increased sales activity, declining inventory, easing of price declines and even price stabilization.

"Improvement in the national economy, rising stock market and mortgage rates at historic lows have all played a role in the improvement of the Manhattan housing market second half of 2009," said Jonathan Miller, President/CEO of Miller Samuel, the firm that prepared the report.

"We are very pleased with the improvement in the New York City market," said Dottie Herman, President/CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman. "This quarter we saw 10.9% more sales than the prior quarter and the real estate market was very active for a time of year where sales generally decline due to the holiday season. Unlike the rest of the country where there is an abundance of inventory, New York City's listing inventory fell 25% from the same time last year. We believe that improved economic conditions and a strong belief in New York City all played a role in improving our housing market."

The new market began after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy tipping point in September 2008. Future market conditions will be determined by meaningful decline in unemployment, resolution of the shadow inventory situation and improved consumer access to credit.

Highlights from the 3rd Quarter Prudential Douglas Elliman Manhattan Market Overview include:

Key Trend Metrics

-Average sales price was $1,296,156, down 12.7% from $1,485,102 in the prior year quarter and down 2.1% from $1,323,462 in the prior quarter.

-Price per square foot was $1,176, down 0.6% from $1,183 in the prior year quarter but up 18.1% from $996 in the prior quarter.

-Median sales price was $810,000, down 10% from $900,000 in the prior year quarter and down 4.7% from $850,000 in the prior quarter.

-Number of sales increased 8.4% to 2,473 sales from 2,282 sales from the prior year quarter and increased 10.9% from 2,230 units in the prior quarter.

-Listing inventory declined 24.6% to 6,851 units from 9.081 units at this time last year and fell 18.3% from 8,389 units in the prior quarter.

-Days on market was 204 days, up from 159 days this time last year.

-Listing discount was 12.8%, up from 7.3% in the same period last year.

-Absorption rate was 8.3 months, below the 10-year 9.9 month average and similar to the 8.2 month rate during the same period 2 years ago.

Co-op Market

-Median sales price of a co-op this quarter was $630,000, down 6.7% from $675,000 in the prior year quarter.

-Number of sales increased by 28.3% to 1,264 units, from 985 sales in the prior year quarter.

-Listing inventory levels for co-ops declined 19.4% to 3,069 units from 3,808 units in the prior year quarter.

-Co-ops accounted for 51.1% of all apartment sales and 44.8% of all listings this quarter.

-Absorption rate was 7.3 months.

Condo Market

-Median sales price of a condo this quarter was $995,000, down 11.2% from the prior year quarter result of $1,120,075.

-Number of sales slipped 6.8% to 1,209 units, from 1,297 units in the same period last year.

-Listing inventory levels for condos dropped 28.3% to 3,782 units from 5,273 units in the prior year quarter.

-Condos accounted for 48.9% of all apartment sales and 55.2% of all listings this quarter.

-Absorption rate was 9.4 months excluding shadow inventory.

Luxury Market (upper 10% of all co-op and condo sales)

-Median sales price was $3,780,000, down 8.5% from $4,132,516 in the prior year quarter.

-The lower limit of the top ten percent of all sales this quarter was $2,550,000.

-Listing inventory declined 20% to 1,384 units from 1,730 units in the same period last year.

-Days on market was 240 days, compared to 169 days in the prior year quarter.

-Listing discount was 4.3%, down from 7.5% this time last year.

-Absorption rate was 16.8 months.

Loft Market (co-op and condo sales)

-Median sales price was $1,400,000, down 31.7% from the prior year quarter result of $2,050,000.

-Number of sales increased by 16.7% to 182 units, from 156 units in the same period last year.

-Listing inventory declined 30.4% to 486 units from 698 units in the prior year quarter.

-Lofts accounted for 7.4% of all apartment sales this quarter, up from 6.8% during the same period last year.

-Absorption rate was 8 months.

About the Manhattan Market Overview

The Manhattan Market Overview is New York's first quarterly residential market report, and is developed from the largest and most sophisticated database of transactions in New York. The report was the first to track co-ops by price per square foot, to analyze square footage of all sales, to analyze the market by median sales price, to break out the market by bedrooms (Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4+), to analyze market-wide apartment inventory, to analyze days on market and absorption, to drop price per room as an obsolete market indicator, to break out sales by specific neighborhoods and to analyze the uptown co-op and condo market.

About Prudential Douglas Elliman

Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate is New York's largest residential brokerage, with over 60 offices, more than 3,500 real estate agents and a network of national and international affiliates. Prudential Douglas Elliman ranked in the top four of all real estate companies in the nation in 2007 and 2008, and was recently ranked #1 in the nationwide network of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates. The company also controls a portfolio of real estate services, including Manhattan's largest residential property manager, Douglas Elliman Property Management, as well as PDE Title and Preferred Empire Mortgage Company. For more information on Prudential Douglas Elliman as well as expert commentary on emerging trends in the real estate industry, visit the Prudential Douglas Elliman site at www.prudentialelliman.com.

About Miller Samuel

Miller Samuel is an appraisal and consulting services firm covering the New York City metropolitan area. Miller Samuel provided property valuations of more than $5,000,000,000 in the past year. The company's clients include domestic and international financial institutions, law firms, consulting firms, developers, employee relocation companies, co-op and condo boards, managing agents, individuals and government agencies. The firm developed what is now the largest database of Manhattan co-op and condo sales covering the sales market back to the late 1970s. For more information visit www.millersamuel.com.

SOURCE Prudential Douglas Elliman