The Old Lady Bends Over

From all the News That's Biased to Print™, the venereal New York Times: A Downturn Begins.

EVEN though the average price for a Manhattan apartment, at $1.5 million, is higher than it was a year ago, some New York neighborhoods have already started to feel the downward tug that has wrenched the housing market elsewhere in the nation.

Please note the "positive" spin first.

Then comes the reality:

Median prices in Harlem and East Harlem were down nearly 20 percent.

Midtown East and Turtle Bay dropped 18.6 percent. Midtown West and Hell’s Kitchen dropped 8 percent.

Other neighborhoods that experienced price drops include the Lower East Side and the East Village, where median prices fell 5.5 percent; and Carnegie Hill, where co-op prices decreased 7.2 percent. Median prices in Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights dropped 30.

Another sign that the market has slowed significantly is the marked drop in sales, decreasing 24 percent in Manhattan.

One of the best indicators of "shorting" something is when you see price increases on slowing volume. That means there are fewer and fewer transactions taking place at higher and higher prices indicating a steep decline ahead.

Watch out below, Big Apple.