"We hear stories about markets like Miami, where the inventory is counted in years, not months," said Gregory Heym, chief economist for Brown Harris Stevens. In Manhattan, by contrast, "Supply has not reached critical levels yet."

The RELA presentation follows on the release of Brown Harris Stevens' Q3 market report which showed declines in average and median prices of for-sale residential units, with deal closings also off. However, Heym pointed out, those declines are by comparison to last year's record highs and the numbers still compare favorably to 2006--which was the record-setting year before '07 came along.

Moreover, the pace of development is certainly going to slow given the current credit market, Heym said. Shlomi Reuveni, EVP of Brown Harris Steven Select, the company's residential marketing arm, asserted, "There is absolutely no financing out there." He cited "heart-wrenching" stories of developers lining up prime locations only to have projects put in limbo when the funding spigot shuts off. Deals of $20 million to $50 million are getting done, Reuveni said, but larger ones are "very difficult to put together."