Adds Willkie, "It's important to remember the lag time between when contracts are signed and when they close, and that this report doesn't fully reflect the current state of the market. As we continue to see an increase in new deals, we have even more reason to be optimistic about the strength of the New York residential real estate market."

In late December 2009, the Real Estate Group of New York, which tracks the rental market, noted that asking rents in Manhattan continued to buck the seasonal trend by remaining flat compared to the prior month. Doorman apartment units declined 5.79% compared to December '08 and 1.19% from November of last year, while non-doorman units saw a year-over-year decline of 1.74% and actually rose 0.87% from November '09.

"Manhattan's rental market appears to be stabilizing to some extent," according to the TREGNY report. "Many of the aggressive incentives that were previously being offered this year have been scaled back and landlords seem to be increasingly comfortable with their situations. Though the outlook for 2010 is still uncertain, the data does offer some hope for improvement."

Looking at sales of multifamily buildings rather than individual units, RCA's most recent monthly report, reflecting year-to-date data through November '09, showed Manhattan lagging behind Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix and tertiary Southeast markets with volume of $530 million. Nationally, sales of significant apartment properties totaled $1.3 billion in November, down slightly from October but up notably from monthly figures recorded earlier in '09, according to RCA. "Preliminary data indicates that December could wind up being the most active month of 2009," the firm says.