Commercial Grade is a post by John Cicero, MAI who provides commentary on issues affecting real estate appraisers, with specific focus on commercial valuation. John is a partner of mine in our commercial real estate valuation concern [Miller Cicero, LLC](http://www.millercicero.com) and he is, depending on what day of the week it is, one of the smartest guys I know. …Jonathan Miller

The bi-annual NYC Income Property Market Report, that I prepare on behalf of Massey Knakal Realty Services, was just released for the first half of 2007. The report was launched in the first half of 2006 and is the only one of its kind, tracking cap rates, gross income multipliers (GIMs), median price per square foot and number of sales in five submarkets: Manhattan, Northern Manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.

The data shows that the multi-family market throughout the City remained strong through the first half of this year, with the median price of a Manhattan walk-up apartment building exceeding $500 per square foot for the first time. The median price of a Northern Manhattan walk-up crossed the $300 per square foot threshold for the first time. The number of sales that transacted was way up in the first half of this year relative to the prior six month period. For the most part, cap rates and GIM’s remained stable.

As the study includes only sales closed through June 30, 2007 the impact of the so-called “credit crunch” on pricing and sales activity for such property is not yet evident.