Manhattan Apartment Building Sales Drop From '07

The number of Manhattan apartment building sales dropped 36.2 percent annually in the third quarter of 2008 ending Sept. 30, according to new data from PropertyShark. Manhattan notched 132 closed deals in the third quarter involving buildings with at least two residential units. That's slightly off from the second quarter amount of 134, and well below the 207 deals closed in the third quarter of 2007.

The median sales price for the buildings was $3,375,000 in the third quarter, an 11.2 percent drop from the third quarter of 2007. The median sales price per unit was $283,430, down 17.5 percent annually. Both medians were down from the second quarter as well.

The $191.8 million trade of 814 Madison Avenue, an elevator building with 50 units, was Manhattan's priciest apartment building sale in the third quarter, according to PropertyShark. The $170,785,013 deal for 265 Cherry Street, an elevator building with 491 units, was No. 2 for the quarter.

The number of New York City apartment building sales overall was off 23 percent from the third quarter of 2007, with 3,039 buildings traded. The median sales price was $590,000, down 9.1 percent annually; and the price per unit was $245,000, down 8.1 percent from last year.