[jyl]

I thought this was an interesting data point.

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=URI:urn:newsml:reuters.com:20051004:MTFH00 289_2005-10-04_04-02-01_N03588885:1

NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) - What goes up and up must eventually head back to earth -- at least in Manhattan, where the average price of an apartment fell to $1,149,813 in the third quarter -- down 12.7 percent from the second quarter, according to a quarterly real estate report released on Tuesday.

[snip]

the average price of a Manhattan apartment in the third quarter of 2005 was still 10.1 percent higher than in the same period a year ago, according to the report.

[snip]

For the Manhattan apartment market, the number of sales fell 8.4 percent during the third quarter to 1,997 units -- down from 2,181 in the second quarter -- and off nearly 18 percent from 2,429 in the year-ago third quarter.

Apartments also hung around the market longer -- lasting 133 days, up 30.4 percent from 102 days in the second quarter and up 23.7 percent from 107 days in 2004's third quarter.

Inventory climbed to 5,764 units in the third quarter -- up 16.1 percent from 4,965 in the second quarter and up 12.8 percent from 5,112 in the year-ago third quarter.

[snip]

The weakest sales were in the top of the Manhattan market, according to the Prudential Douglas Elliman report. The average sales price of a unit with four or more bedrooms declined about 36 percent in the third quarter to $6,823,346, down from $10,639,792 in the second quarter.