In the first half of 2010, we have seen a significant increasein the number of investment property sales in New York City. Iunderstand, from speaking with many of you across the country, thatthis trend is being seen elsewhere and, while perhaps it is not assharp and increase as in New York, the trends are positivenonetheless.

In all of 2009, 1436 properties were sold in the Big Apple and,in the first half of 2010 (1H10), there were 818 buildings sold.The dollar volume of sales also increased significantly, going from$6.26 billion in all of 2009 to $6.49 billion in 1H10.

The projected annualized increase in the number of buildingssold is 14% while the annualized dollar volume increase isprojected to be 131%. These figures illustrate two very tangibledynamics. The first, and most obvious, is that activity is pickingup significantly and, the second is that the average sale price oftransactions is increasing sharply. The average sales priceof a New York City transaction in 1H10 reached $7.9 million, upfrom $4.4 million last year.