From the November issue: In real estate, the saying goes, cash is king. But in New York City, that became truer than ever last month as the Dow Jones started freefalling. As investors watched in horror while their stock portfolios hemorrhaged money, many chose to pull their cash out of the stock market and put it into real estate. While real estate is no doubt softening, too, the market, especially in New York City, is still perceived to be a stable long-term investment that offers something of a reprieve from the stomach-churning daily fluctuations of the Dow. It’s difficult to quantify the number of all-cash deals, but brokers say they have noticed a sharp increase in cash transactions in recent weeks, even among wealthy buyers who would have no trouble getting a mortgage.