Dottie Herman, president and CEO of Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Melissa Cohn, president and CEO of Manhattan Mortgage Company, agreed that while Manhattan isn’t immune to a real estate downturn, the city is faring better than the rest of the country. Cohn said because average prices are higher in the city, it tends to have better-qualified buyers. Lockhart Steele, founder of Curbed.com, said many would-be buyers are frozen by all the changes in the market and are waiting for the right time to buy. Don Capoccia, managing partner of BFC Partners, said buyers are now just interested in the basic necessities — location, living in a quality building and having access to transportation.