Experts: Manhattan Avoids Apartment Glut

NEW YORK CITY-For-sale residential inventory here is unlikely to reach the surplus levels seen in some other markets, notwithstanding a decline in apartment sales and concerns about further Wall Street layoffs. The buildup of inventory is being held in check by still-strong velocity and by the limited prospects for new development. That was the takeaway message from a Brown Harris Stevens presentation Tuesday morning before a Real Estate Lenders Association audience.

“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.