Report: luxe market remains strong 

Despite the wider market’s uncertainty, Manhattan’s high-end residential sales market continues to grow at a healthy pace. Residential brokerage Stribling & Associates announced in its Luxury Market Report that the strong demand in Manhattan last year for residences $5 million and over has carried over into 2008, driven by lack of supply. It reported that there have already been four closings this year for co-ops over $20 million, with nine more pending, compared to 11 sales for all of 2007. The report said that total co-op sales in 2007 fell 6.5 percent primarily because of lack of inventory. The average price for a condo that cost $5 million and over increased 18 percent in 2007, while the median sales price climbed 8.1 percent, the report said. TRD