Hello, Dolly?

To paraphrase Beresford resident Jerry Seinfeld: What's the deal with Dolly Lenz?

In August, the Broker of Brokers told The New York Sun that the higher-end real estate market in New York had stumbled sharply:

"I've been doing this 20 years — I've never seen anything change this fast."

This morning, two months later, the New York Post has Ms. Lenz saying:

"I'd say traffic has more than doubled than this time last year, which is beyond comprehension," says Prudential Douglas Elliman vice chairman Dolly Lenz.

So, is the market back? Did it ever go away? We think it never did. The Manhattan market, especially, is in the midst of a record sales year--and if Ms. Lenz and other top brokers are to be believed, the borough has weathered any summer storms magnificently.

And, to be fair, Ms. Lenz isn't the only broker to have changed his or her tune in the last few months from gloom to glowing. Which, of course, begs the question: Does anyone really know where the market's headed?