Manhattan Real Estate and Homes for Sale

In songs such as "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra or "On Broadway" by George Benson, Manhattan is depicted as the place where the American dream can be actualized almost overnight and where the smallest individual can grow into a giant. Manhattan, dubbed "the city" by local and nearby residents, has a living, breathing pulse. Many consider it the center of the world, or at least, one of the truly great cities on the planet.

Manhattan is a center for the American arts, entertainment, finance, media, advertising, fashion and sports industries. All four major broadcast networks (Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS) are headquartered in New York City. The MLB, NBA, NHL and the NFL are all headquartered in New York City. In addition to being known as the Fashion Capital of the World, Manhattan has been home to many American fine arts institutions, with the Fashion Institute, Julliard, "Broadway", and leading music labels all located in Midtown. With the largest federal reserve bank, the New York Stock exchange, and the United Nations located in Manhattan, the former Dutch landing point serves as a global centerpiece.

Manhattan is well known as city that never sleeps. With 22.96 square miles of land space and over 1.5 million residents, Manhattan is the most densely populated of the New York City boroughs. Its population has grown an average of 3.2% each of the last 12 years and city officials expect further population increases to continue.

While extraordinarily high demand has made Manhattan one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world based on sheer pricing of homes for sale and apartments for rent, the relatively high salaries of its residents kept New York City locals comfortably able to pay their monthly living expenses. As such, New York has avoided being ranked in Forbes' recent list of cities where it's most difficult to pay rent.

Furthermore, although Manhattan is made up of some rather expensive neighborhoods, its general diversity extends into its housing market, and many neighborhoods above Central Park offer reasonable pricing for condos and rental apartments. For example, the average uptown rent is approximately 50% of the rent for a similar spot in glamorous downtown neighborhood Tribeca. Ongoing development in areas such as the Financial District, East Harlem, and Central Harlem is adding quality residential space to the Manhattan real estate market, giving new renters and buyers a greater selection and more competitive prices.

With competition and grandiose ambitions serving as the hallmark for its residents, there are simply no limits on the Manhattan real estate market. As such, it will more than likely continue increasing in both supply and demand well into the future.