There is perhaps no part of Manhattan that is more coveted than Columbus Circle. Downtown neighborhoods like Tribeca and Soho may have the highest average sales prices in Manhattan, but by any measure Columbus Circle, the small area consisting of a few square blocks on the southwestern corner of Central Park, holds its own against those popular areas. After all, anyplace where a penthouse can sell for $88 million – as a pied a terre, no less – must be doing something right. As we’ve written about previously, the most popular condos for sale in Columbus Circle make it clear that the ultra-lux sales market in Manhattan is as strong as it ever was. It’s hard to draw any other conclusion when a penthouse in one of the best newly constructed buildings Manhattan has ever seen is asking for $110 million, and we’d be willing to bet they’ll get it.

It's big news, of course, but the ongoing recovery in the market for Manhattan luxury condos is not exactly news at this point. But what started as a series of anecdotal incidences -- near-ubiquitous price chops replaced by price hikes at buildings like The Apthorp; the consumer confidence reflected in the preference for condos over co-ops; the continued strength of the international market -- has recently become something a lot more measurable. Between the increasingly rapid absorption rate of Manhattan condo listings and the booming market in high-end luxury condo listings, though, the bounce-back in Manhattan real estate is increasingly tough to miss. In that sense, the surge in Manhattan apartment sales in the second quarter reported by the Wall Street Journal's Josh Barbanel isn't exactly a surprise. But the scale of that surge, on the other hand, is both big news and good news. More and more, the recovery in NYC real estate is looking official. "A Wall Street Journal review of closed-sales filings with New York City Department of Finance shows that during the second quarter, which ends June 30, sales were running 80% above the pace reported a year ago," Barbanel writes.