The Apex condo From the June issue: Robb Pair, president of the brokerage and development firm Harlem Lofts, had an uncomfortably close-up view of that neighborhood’s tumbling sales market in recent years. He estimates that the three-family townhouse that he owns at 119th Street and Lenox Avenue, where he lives with his family, has lost about a million dollars in value since its peak in last decade’s boom.
Among Harlem’s woes has been a glut of new condominium units, many of which were located in troubled buildings that just missed the boom years or suffered during the downturn. The number of new condo and co-op units in Upper Manhattan — Harlem and neighborhoods to the north — has risen steadily since 2008, with an accompanying slide in average sale prices. [more]

From the January issue: Hope springs eternal in the New York City residential market, especially now that 2009 — the worst year in recent memory — is over. “If you survived 2009, you can survive anything,” said Yael Dunayer, an executive vice president at Barak Realty. Like many other brokers, he pointed to strong activity in the second half of last year as an indicator of a possible 2010 recovery. “The last six months of 2009 have been very active and brokers should look forward to riding this trend well into 2010,” Dunayer said. One reason for this optimism is that December — usually one of the slowest months of the year — saw more activity than usual, brokers said. As the holidays approach, New Yorkers — and would-be New Yorkers — usually take a break from real estate shopping, preferring to gift-shop instead. But this year, low prices continued to lure buyers into the marketplace and prompted them to sign on the dotted line much later than usual. “Last year, the brokers didn’t show around the holidays. It’s different this year,” said Marilyn Harra Kaye, president of MLBKaye International Realty. “We even canceled an [office] meeting this month because the brokers were very busy.” Of course, December 2008 was much slower than usual, since it arrived in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse. But brokers said last month was busier than most holiday seasons, thanks in part to the perception that there are deals in the marketplace.