Home prices down 10% in 4Q08

Average price fell to $669,000 from a year earlier, with the steepest drop in 1-3 family homes, declining 13% to $548k

Apartment prices citywide fell 4% to an average $796,000.

…but

The average Manhattan apartment sale price rose 6% to $1.37mm, which could be attributed to substantial sales at 101 Warren St. Volume in general was down 35%.

…And

The average sale price for a Manhattan co-op increased to $1.09mm, with prices in Grammercy/Kips Bay rising 34% to $1.92. Upper East Side co-op prices rose 61% to $1.87mm, boosted by $20mm+ sales

Real Estate Board of New York

meanwhile…

Housing starts fall 16% in December to an annual rate of 550k – the lowest since 1959

Homebuilders have no choice. The market is bloated with excess supply and demand is weak. The pace of housing starts will remain depressed until 2011.

—Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com

…and

Initial Jobless Claims matched a 26 year high at 589k