Has ‘real estate’ become a dirty word?

Some brokers and homeowners say as property values and prices continue to fall, New Yorkers, and especially real estate investors, no longer want to talk about real estate. Julie Friedman, an executive vice president at Bellmarc Realty, said people used to want to gossip about real estate, but the giddiness has turned into fear as sellers wonder if they should get out of the market before prices fall further. “Nobody wants to talk about it,” said David Markus, a hedge fund manager who lives in an Upper West Side co-op. “In my building a year ago, people would talk about how much someone listed their apartment for. Today nobody wants to talk about the fact that we have three apartments in the B line that are for sale and none have sold,” Markus said.