Manhattan Apartment Prices Tumble

Wall Street's problems have chucked a bucket of cold water over Manhattan's once overheated property market, Reuters reports. The median price of a Manhattan apartment dived 11% to $749,000 in the first quarter, according to a report released today by the Corcoran Group, New York's largest brokerage. Analysts expect prices to keep falling in coming months.

"We are in a period of price discovery," as the market corrects itself, one analyst said. Sales at the top end of the market have slowed to a crawl, although sales are starting to pick up at the lower end as prices drop. "Manhattan has become affordable again,” said the Corcoran Group's chief executive. “It is a lot more affordable than it was six months ago.” (More Manhattan stories.)