New York Broker Sees Signs of Recovery

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- This past spring, Gerard Longo, a property developer and broker based in New York, started seeing evidence that the market was starting to recover. Showings were booked. Potential buyers were lining up. Things were looking good.

"We were doing 30 to 40 appointment showings a week," he says. "That's a lot. Generally that equates to five to 10 offers and will turn into two or three sales. But that didn't happen. We just had all these showings, but no one was buying."

Summer is traditionally a slow month for those in the real estate business. On the heels of a brutal market downturn, Longo was prepared for the worse. If the spring showings yielded few sales, July and August would likely be a bust. But suddenly offers started coming in.

"July and August have probably been the best months of the year," Longo says. "Confidence is building and money is coming back into the market."

The number of homes sold in New York City between May and July was down 36% from the same period a year earlier, according to the real estate database Trulia. While August sales data aren't yet available, some brokers are seeing nascent signs of recovery.

Longo, who has been working in real estate for 28 years, has renovated 500 properties, and developed or consulted on more than 60 condominium projects. He's a principal of Atlantic Walk Vestry, the developer of exclusive properties such as the Fairchild and the Pearline Soap Factory in North Tribeca. Actor James Gandolfini and pop star Justin Timberlake are among the celebrities who call his properties home.