From left: Donald Trump, president of the Trump Organization, Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, and Lois Weiss, real estate columnist for the New York Post

Compiled by Lauren Elkies

In the wake of Sandy Weill’s reported $88 million sale of his 15 Central Park West penthouse, The Real Deal wanted to touch base and see if real estate executives had any last minute predictions for the New Year since speaking with the magazine for the December residential market report.

Dottie Herman, president of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership, said to expect 2012 to be a bit of a repeat of 2011, while developer Donald Trump said “really good real estate will have excess value.” Elizabeth Stribling, president of Stribling & Associates, predicts a “continuing strong demand for new condominium offerings all over town,” while Stuart Saft, chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s global real estate department, said “the euro will continue to be in trouble causing a flight to safety to the U.S. and particularly New York City, so New York City properties will trade at even lower cap rates.” Meanwhile, Citi Habitats President Gary Malin and Halstead Property Development Marketing President Stephen Kliegerman recently told amNY that 2012 would bring more development and fewer amenities to New York City’s real estate market. [more]

The Real Deal’s seventh annual forum, “The Debate,” at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. Starting at 6:30 p.m., developer Billy Macklowe will debate Gristedes magnate John Catsimatidis. Then Curbed founder Lockhart Steele will face off against Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty Partnership. Finally, attorneys Stuart Saft of Dewey & LeBouef and Adam Leitman Bailey of his eponymous firm will go head-to-head. CNBC anchor Bill Griffeth will be moderating the event. It’s the big event of the year. If you move fast, you can still make it! Please tweet about the event and send questions using hashtag #trddebate. Comments

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From the April issue: Positive signs in the market are attracting the attention of the many New Yorkers who wanted to sell their apartments, but took them off the market last year in the midst of the recession. With the market now showing signs of improvement, many of these homeowners are considering relisting their homes. “Sellers feel the market is stronger than it was last year,” said Kyle Blackmon, a vice president at Brown Harris Stevens. Their decisions could have far-reaching consequences for the Manhattan market in the coming months. Inventory has declined for the past few quarters (see “The inventory squeeze”), which has helped to create urgency in the market and prevent further price drops. But a large number of units reentering the market at once could reverse some of that progress. [more]

The Real Estate Board of New York’s 114th Annual Banquet was the usual whirl of floor-length dresses, schmoozing and cameos by politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson (see slide show above of The Real Deal’s Lauren Elkies interviewing people at the REBNY event, and click here for a Webcast from the night). But for the first time, a woman presided over the event — new REBNY Chairman Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the tri-state region of CB Richard Ellis, swathed in a sparkling blue gown. Her presence at the microphone, however, didn’t do much to quiet the boisterous crowd, which was just as loud as usual despite the fact that there were slightly fewer attendees this year than last — 2,000 versus 2,300 last year — according to REBNY President Steven Spinola. The crowd’s smaller size didn’t do much to dampen the markedly higher spirits that set this year’s event apart from last year’s. “Last year, this was like a funeral,” said Jeffrey Levine, principal of Douglaston Development, who attended the banquet with his son Benjamin. “We were licking our wounds from the collapse of Lehman. There’s no question everyone tonight is in a much better frame of mind.” [more]

From the November issue: While prices and sales activity have picked up in New York in the last couple of months, a number of analysts are predicting a second round to the downturn here, with prices likely to fall. Estimates range from a drop of a few percentage points to up to 17 percent. Barry Ritholtz, the New York-based CEO and director of equity research at Fusion IQ, an online quantitative research firm, noted that “there’s still some downside to prices” in New York. “The good news is, the worst of the bloodbath is probably behind us in terms of falling prices,” he said. “The bad news is, unemployment continues to tick up and foreclosures continue to ramp up. I do not think New York is at a bottom quite yet.” Financial analysis firm Fiserv predicted last month that the New York City metro area will underperform the nation as a whole over the next two years, with prices falling another 17.4 percent by June 2011.

The Real Deal has ranked the top listing agents of the week based on the highest priced residential deals filed with the city.

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