The third quarter was a period of records and
near records in the Manhattan residential
apartment market. There were 3,837 sales in
the third quarter, 30% higher than the prior year
quarter and the second highest total in more
than 24 years. The sharp gains in the number of
sales likely reflects a release of pent-up demand
accumulated over the past several years
combined with the concern over rising mortgage
rates. The highest level of sales reached was
3,939 in the second quarter of 2007, just over a
year before the Lehman tipping point and onset
of the global credit crunch in late 2008. Listing
inventory also reached a new record by falling
21.9% to 4,567, the lowest level reached since
this metric was tracked in 2000…