That being said, a commentary earlier this week by Shimon Shkury, partner at Massey Knakal Realty Services, notes “some potentially ominous clouds” on the investment sales horizon. He cites an article in the New York Times that reports a steep decline in single-family house and apartment sales since the expiration of the Homebuyer Tax Credit earlier this spring. “This is backed up by a sharp drop in mortgage applications, which are now at their lowest point since 1997,” Shkury writes. Further, the Commerce Department on Wednesday reported a 10% drop in housing starts nationwide for May, the month after the tax credit expired.

Despite these indicators, and news that May retail sales suffered a drastic falloff across the US, “lack of inventory continues to help pricing in the investment sales market,” writes Shkury. “Bidding activity remains strong for well priced listings but there are very few discretionary sellers out there.”

A new report by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services founds similar concerns in the retail sector citywide. “Although buyer interest remains elevated for New York City retail properties, many investors continue to exhibit uncertainty over property values,” the report states. “Consequently, activity levels have declined sharply in several areas, further muddling pricing expectations and affecting the bidding climate.”

The Marcus & Millichap report predicts that investor demand will stay strongest for mixed-use properties, “where owners can hedge risk with below-market-rate apartment units.” For retail condominiums, though, deal flow will remain depressed “until the credit markets relax sufficiently to facilitate speculative and owner-user acquisitions.”