From the January issue: Winter is usually the slowest time of year for Manhattan real estate sales. This season, however, the continued strength of the luxury market — paired with the pending change in tax rates for capital gains — prompted a spike in sales activity. In the fourth quarter of 2012, there were 2,598 closed sales in Manhattan, according to Douglas Elliman’s latest market report, which was prepared by appraisal firm Miller Samuel. That’s up a dramatic 29.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. Listing inventory, meanwhile, plummeted 34.2 percent to 4,749 from 7,221 at the same time last year. [more]

The Hamptons residential market peak is a distant memory for most, according to the Town & Country Real Estate five-year study of the region between 2005 and 2010, which named 2005 as the peak year for sales activity in the region (click here to see full report). Of the 11 markets it tracked for the report, seven saw their highest number of home sales in 2005, before it all went downhill. Meanwhile, 2007 appeared to be the best year for high-end home sales, with a median home sales price of $999,000 in the region, the highest that figure rose in the five-year period. The hardest hit markets over the last five years were Sag Harbor Village and the Southampton area (which includes the North Sea village), which each saw sales activity drop 67 percent from 2005 to 2010. The Southampton area also saw the greatest home sales volume decline over the five-year period, according to the report, with the volume dropping to $83.5 million in 2009 from $273 million in 2005, a 69 percent decline. TRD… [more]