Only about 30% of New York City properties are owned, and 70% of those are co-ops, which restrict the amount of financing a buyer can use, particularly in higher-end units, Willkie says. That naturally restricts sales.
"You're looking at homes where people have tremendous equity," he says. "There were so many cases of people who owed more than their home was worth; that's just not going to happen in Manhattan. When you have more equity in your home, you respond very differently in down economic times."
Supply aside, there's simply also more demand for luxury apartments in Manhattan, say brokers, and they swear it's not just local pride driving them to talk up the Big Apple. New York City truly remains the place to own a residence for anyone who's anyone, including wealthy Chinese, Russians, Latin Americans and Europeans, they say.
"It doesn't matter how much money you have," as Eklund put it, "you're not really, truly successful until you own an apartment in New York."