NEW YORK CITY-According to a Real Estate Board of New York survey, the fourth quarter of 2011 was weak, as far as New York City home prices and sales were concerned. However, according to REBNY’s “Fourth Quarter 2011 Residential Sales Report,” there were some bright spots in Brooklyn and Queens and brokers are optimistic about 2012.

“The encouraging report was that brokers were more optimistic about 2012 and that was after what we’ve seen from sales activity and average pricing,” Mike Slattery, SVP or Research for REBNY, tells GlobeSt.com. “I sense that some of that is that there may be a lot of activity out there—buyers—but getting to the closing has been the challenge for a variety of reasons.”

The average sales price for a New York City home decreased 6% in the fourth quarter of 2011, the report found. And the number of sales fell by 12% for the quarter, compared to the same quarter a year previous.