Sales of Manhattan apartments double

New York: Manhattan apartment sales doubled in the first quarter this year as bargain-hunting buyers scooped up co-ops and condos in a market where resale prices have fallen by an average 29% since their peak.

The number of sales soared to 2,384 from 1,195 a year earlier, New York appraiser Miller Samuel Inc and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said. The average price for a co-op or condo slid 11% to $868,000 (€640,354).

Values fell across apartments of all sizes as New York City recorded 10.2% unemployment in February. Fallout from the recession and credit crisis that cost more than 184,000 finance jobs in the Americas is still hurting New York. The city lost 5.4% of its finance industry jobs in the 12 months ending in February, the state Labor Department said.