Manhattan Market Beginning To Show Cracks

As the US housing slump deepened over the past three years, Manhattan’s real estate market seemed immune. Instead of crumb­ling with the rest of the nation, prices continued to rocket. Sales surged and new condominiums found multiple bidders. For a long while, Manhattan property was in an orbit all of its own.

ng signs that this last bastion may be giving way. New York City, the seemingly indestructible foundation of the nation’s luxury property market, has this year begun to shown signs of strain. In the second quarter, traditionally the hottest property season, sales slumped 38 per cent to a five-year low, according to the Corcoran Group, the city’s largest residential real estate group.