Manhattan Commercial Property Sales Fell 66 Percent
Bloomberg reports: Manhattan commercial real estate sales fell 66 percent to $17.09 billion in 2008, the lowest in four years, as the worldwide credit freeze sidelined buyers.
Only 20 property sales worth $5 million or more closed in the fourth quarter and there were 250 such deals in the year, according to Real Capital Analytics Inc., a New York-based real estate data service.
“The last time New York City witnessed this type of stagnation in the investment sales market was in the third quarter of 2001, when facing the effects of the technology bust and 9/11,” said Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital.
Sales are likely to continue to be stalled through at least the first quarter, according to Stephen Pearlman, director of corporate finance in the New York office of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin. The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury’s move to give banks financial assistance need to take hold and embolden lenders to make loans again, he said.
Only “until we reach some kind of bottom are we going to see people make decisions to sell or buy property,” Pearlman said. “People are going to have to have a confidence that prices are not going to continue to go down.”
View the full article on Bloomberg: Manhattan Commercial Property Sales Fell 66 Percent
Posted by: Nina Turner