A housing report from the New York Post. "The top-heavy Manhattan residential real-estate market is teetering toward a long downward slide, new sales data show. Third-quarter market reports released today by the city's top four real-estate companies show that apartment prices have dropped, while two of the surveys say prices have sunk below last year's third-quarter numbers."

"'My phone has nearly stopped ringing,' said one high-end broker who requested anonymity. 'It's a scary time in this business.'"

"A chilling report by Brown Harris Stevens shows the average sale price for cooperative apartments slid by 4 percent in the past 12, while condos fell 6 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2005. Halstead Property notes that the average apartment price is4 percent less than a year ago, and 10 percent lower than the second quarter 2006."

"Weighing particularly hard on the market is the average sales price for a Manhattan co-op, which has dropped 16.1 percent in just the last quarter, according to figures by Prudential Douglas Elliman."

"The negative numbers represent a stalemate between buyers and sellers, an overabundance of properties for sale and a boom in the construction of condominium developments. The Corcoran Group reports a 17 percent drop in deals closed in the past 12 months from 3,597 to 2,996. Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman says there are fewer deals being struck because sellers are still sticking to their asking prices while more buyers are taking a wait-and-see attitude."

"'Buyers don't feel the same urgency as in the past,' she said. 'They feel more empowered to make low offers or just wait.'"

The Daily News. "The average sale price of a Manhattan apartment fell 7%, the latest indication that the city's housing market is cooling. The statistics reflect the frustration of apartment sellers, who struggled to find the right strategies now that they no longer have the upper hand."

"Some had to cut their asking prices. Others decided they didn't want to play the game at all. 'We were just putting our apartments out there to see what we could get.' That's what some clients told Jonathan Miller, the CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, when they yanked their flats off the market."

"Inventory has increased 94.4% since the runup began in the 2004 fourth quarter. It's 32.3% higher than a year ago."

The Associated Press. "Inventory levels reached their highest level in more than 15 years in the third quarter, according to a report by Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson Inc., an appraisal firm. 'I think we're seeing the beginning of a buyer's market that hasn't fully manifested yet,' said Michael Martin, director of research at Mitchell, Maxwell & Jackson. 'We've still got sellers who aren't willing to dramatically cut prices and buyers are simply taking their time and being much more discretionary.'"

"The higher end of the market, which includes apartments valued at $2.5 million or more, took the biggest hit as the number of sales transactions plunged 40 percent, and prices declined 6 percent for three-bedroom units and 14 percent on average for four bedrooms and larger between the second and third quarters, the report said."

"Martin blames a buildup in inventory for much of the slowdown. He said the surge in new condominium developments, and flurry of condo conversions in the past four years have resulted in large amount of unsold apartments sitting in the market."

"In the past 12 to 24 months, developers brought a record 24,000 new apartments onto the market, the report said. In September, there were 9,990 units listed for sale, up 8 percent from 9,279 in August and up 21 percent from 8,280 units a year ago."

"'That's really the biggest factor in the market because it all comes down to supply and demand,' he said."

"Demand for condos started to cool in the second quarter, said Martin. 'The first part of the year was really carried through with bonus money from Wall Street because bonuses were at record levels, so that really kept things moving,' he said. But inventory began building in the second quarter as demand started to die down, he said."

"Martin said he hasn't seen inventory this high since the late 1980s. The inventory glut, high interest rates and weak economy back then subsequently led to a housing crash in the early 1990s, that saw prices sharply tumble. Martin said home prices fell 38 percent on average between the time prices peaked in the second quarter of 1989 and the time prices troughed in the third quarter of 1993."

The USA Today. "At the end of the second quarter, there was an 11.9-month supply of condos and co-ops for sale, up from a 6.6-month supply a year ago. About 60% of that increase was from the construction of new condos, says appraiser Jonathan Miller."

"'There are a lot of deals right now in the very high end,' he says. 'The remainder of the market is quiet. Volume is dropping. We are seeing sellers be a little bit more realistic in pricing.' At current prices, it makes more sense for a lot of renters to remain tenants."