"The first quarter annualized sales figure suggests that '09 will see an additional 59% decline in total dollar sales volume and a 68% decline in the number of sales," writes John Cicero, managing principal of Miller Cicero, in an introduction to the report. "But we believe this figure to be deceptive because we anticipate activity to accelerate as the year progresses to compensate for fourth quarter 2008's extraordinarily abysmal number of contract executions."

Of the 47 building sales analyzed in the report—including the multifamily, office, mixed-use, retail, hotel and development sectors—only seven entailed prices of $25 million or more, and only four properties sold for $100 million or more. These included the $355-million sale of 1540 Broadway to CBRE Investors, the $225-million sale-leaseback of a commercial condo in the New York Times Building at 620 Eighth Ave., Sotheby's $370-million buyback of its headquarters at 1334 York Ave. and Brack Capital's $121.2-million sale of the Hilton Garden Inn at 63-67 W. 35th St. to RLJ Development.

The report, which covers building sales below East 96th Street and below West 110th Street, shows that multifamily has held up best, in terms of the number of sales and, in some transactions, the sale price per square foot. Of the 22 Manhattan apartment buildings that traded in the first quarter, only three were elevator buildings. More than half of the sales were under $5 million, and all but five were under $10 million. "Unlike the larger (over $50-million) assets, this sector of the market still has financing available, though at more conservative underwriting than in the past," writes Cicero. He adds, "There has not been a sale of a $100-plus-million class A apartment tower since mid-'08."