Manhattan Apartment Prices Decline 9.9% as Condo Sales Tumble

This is just a look at another part of the country.  New York being the highest population area, except So Cal.  In some measures if you Ventura County, Santa Barbara, and Palm Springs, then So Cal actually has a higher population and more room for growth.

The median price of all properties that changed hands in the quarter fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier to $782,071, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report today. Total sales were little changed at 2,394 as demand for co-operative apartments offset the plunge in purchases of condos, which tend to be more expensive, said Miller Samuel President Jonathan Miller.

“The co-op and condo market seemed to be polar opposites this quarter,” he said in an interview. “The disparity between the two forms of ownership is probably temporary, but clearly was a primary cause of the overall decline in price indicators compared to last year.”

Overall sales held steady as New York City’s jobless rate stayed at 8.9 percent in February, unchanged from the prior month and a percentage point lower than a year earlier. The city’s private job count rose by 11,100 in February, as employment in the financial industry increased, according to the state Labor Department.

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