In the past six months, prices for apartments and co-ops in Manhattan have fallen as much as 10-20 percent, depending on location. In addition, landlords and co-op managers are being forced to throw in freebies – such as one or two months’ free rent, waiving broker fees and slashing parking costs.


Yet it is unclear whether or not Fairfield County residents who regularly commute into Manhattan are taking advantage. Brokers who spoke to The Commercial Record indicated that part of the problem is a lot of people are taking a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to any move. 


Barry Salottolo, listings director with Citi-Spaces in Manhattan, is one of those brokers. 


“Some people are waiting for the prices to drop even more, [but] we don’t see that as really viable because they’re not going to bottom out to the degree that people might be waiting for it. It’s a great time now with the interest rates at 4½ to 5 percent but, like I said, it’s really driven by the market and whether you’re working, whether you can afford it.”


Great rates aside, Salottolo is confident the lure of living in Manhattan will at least keep prices more stable than they are in Brooklyn, which he says has just cratered. Some of the top brokers Salotollo works with in the city have seen prices plummet from $1,100 a square foot for a condo to about $600 or $700. 


“So people who bought a couple years ago are reeling right now. They have to actually sit a lot longer, and they may never recoup everything they paid.


“In Park Slope and in Williamsburg I have seen a 30-percent to 40-percent drop in some properties for both sale and for rent. Brooklyn crashed well before Manhattan had its slowdown,” says Salotollo.





Where Have All 


The Commuters Gone?


Yet, all this prospective good news for buyers means naught if everyone fears losing his job. New York State Unemployment figures reflect cause for worry, too, as the state has issued two extensions of emergency benefits, the most recent being approved by President Obama.


Salottolo says it’s another reason why people are waiting. 


“Even the people who had ‘good jobs’ – you see them walking around the streets and they’re unemployed – so it’s a scary thing. [These are] people who think that they’re untouchable.”


Further supporting the unemployment problem: bridge and tunnel traffic for the main nine arteries into New York was down 5 percent over last year. Aaron Donovan, MTA spokesperson, points out that this is subject to a slight variation after further review.


How it all will play out is, of course, unclear. If consumers are not buying stereos and microwaves, chances are they are also afraid to buy a new condo or flat as well.


Asked how much the prices will have to drop, if there will be a tipping point before the commuters will move into the city where they work, Salotollo was skeptical.


“That’s going to have a lot to do with the fact that people in Fairfield County who are middle- or upper-middle class who are living pretty nicely may not want to come into the city and be priced out,” Salottolo says.â–