"There's certainly been a softening in transaction velocity in the first quarter," J.D. Parker, regional manager of Marcus & Millichap's Brooklyn office, tells Real Estate New York. "We saw this toward the end of last year as well, but it has continued to decline. I'm seeing somewhere between a 50% and 65% decline in transaction velocity in apartment building sales in Brooklyn."

While the dropoff may appear steep, Parker puts it into perspective. "The market was unusually active from 2004 through the early part of 2007, so this is a much more normalized market," he says. "Before the credit debacle of last summer, the market of the last three years was overheated."

Among the areas affected by that overarching debt market crunch has been employment. Employers are projected to add 1,000 jobs in Brooklyn this year, compared to 4,700 new hires in '07. "Due to turmoil in the financial markets, though, the potential for a substantial decrease in citywide employment exists," according to the report. Parker adds, "There haven't been too many job cuts, although a lot of our clients are nervous about what's going to happen in the coming months. But overall, people are optimistic. New York's pretty resilient."