A Tale of 2 Manhattans: Some Residential Rocks While Office Space Reels

The circumstances of two key real estate segments in our nation's largest market can be seen as a kind of microcosm of what's happening nationally as the coronavirus pandemic not only wears on but gains new steam. On one hand, closings on apartment sales in Manhattan soared in the second quarter, published reports say, while at the same time, office vacancies also hit record highs. There were 3,944 apartment closings in the second quarter, up 38% from the first quarter and more than double the sales year over year, according to luxury digs specialist Brown Harris Stevens.