Bonus losses could mean biggest apartment price drop since 1980

If Wall Street bonuses drop the estimated 50 percent this fiscal year, it could lead to a 24 percent drop in Manhattan apartment prices through 2010, which would be the biggest drop since 1980, according to Sam Chandan, chief economist at Real Estate Economics, a property research firm. A 114 percent climb in bonuses between 1998 and 2000 partly fueled the spike in co-op and condo prices, said Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The average bonus dropped last year to $112,000, a 37 percent decline from the average amount in 2007.