High-end inventory doubles

The number of Manhattan homes on the market with asking prices of $15 million or more was 168 as of Monday, close to double the number in fall 2006, according to StreetEasy. And the number of listings with price tags of $5 million or more was 1,270 in the third quarter, up from 672 in the third quarter of 2007, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman’s quarterly report. Brokers say that unrealistic pricing at the high end made it inevitable that sales volume would be down this year in that segment of the market.