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 at buildings like The Apthorp; the consumer confidence reflected in the preference for ; the -- has recently become something a lot more measurable. Between the increasingly rapid absorption rate of Manhattan condo listings and the 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.

According to an article in Wednesday's New York Times, three-bedroom Manhattan apartments and four-bedroom apartments are all the rage amongst families. It makes arithmetical sense, of course -- more kids, more bedrooms, Q.E.D. -- but the boom in sales of three- and four-bedroom Manhattan apartments indicates that a demographic that traditionally hightails it to the suburbs might be opting for Manhattan condos instead. Despite the fact that new condominium sales have been comparatively flat over the past year, sales of three-bedroom and four-bedroom Manhattan apartments have drastically increased -- whether it's because families are looking for more space for their children, space for guest bedrooms, or a tricked-out media room varies from case to case, of course. But clearly there's something going on here.

We at New Construction Manhattan have had our collective eye -- we just share one, it's more convenient -- on Upper West Side luxury condo Linden 78 since it was first announced back in 2009. There's a lot to like, after all: top-tier new construction finishes and amenities share space with elegant condos that have spacious dimensions and soaring ceilings that are more-or-less pre-war in their graciousness. But while Linden 78 inarguably rates among the most interesting new condo listings on the Upper West Side, it has spent the last six months as just that: a listing. Calls to Linden 78's sales office weren't answered, and the building was wrapped up in . Now, finally, comes some good news: the phones are being picked up at Linden 78's sales office, and indications are that Linden 78 could begin sales within the next month. This is good news for a number of reasons.

Taken purely on its merits -- which include a prime Manhattan location at the foot of Madison Square Park, a unique and appealing look, and some of the most luxurious condos for sale in Gramercy -- the new luxury condo One Madison Park is one of the more impressive new condo listings in Manhattan. But taking One Madison Park on its merits misses one very important point: despite being a pretty exceptional Manhattan condominium, One Madison Park is an exceptionally troubled Manhattan condominium. One Madison Park is currently the subject of several ongoing lawsuits and other controversies, which have conspired to bring the final construction on the building's amenities -- the wine cellar, the swimming pool, stuff like that -- to a halt. We wrote about this at the New Construction Manhattan blog , and it remains true today. Of course, all that other stuff we just wrote about One Madison Park -- prime Manhattan location, good looks, stunning condos for sale -- holds true as well. Since New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff's job is to write about a building's aesthetics, it's not surprising that he delivered a very positive review of One Madison Park in today's Times. It seems kind of surprising all the same, though, simply because it has been so long since we've had good news to report about One Madison Park.

If it seems like it has been awhile since you've read about a new FHA-approved Manhattan condo development at New Construction Manhattan, that would be because it has been awhile. That is, both awhile since we wrote about it, and awhile since a new Manhattan condo qualified for FHA approval. So long, in fact, that you might've forgotten what it means for a condo to qualify for FHA approval. In short -- or at least shorter than this NCM post, which explains it in more detail -- when a condo gets FHA approval, the Federal Housing Administration has deemed the project both healthy and stable enough that condo buyers at said condo project qualify for government-backed loans at very advantageous rates. The list of NYC condos that have received FHA approval in New Construction Manhattan's NYC condo database. Now that list has grown by one, as the Clinton luxury condominium The 505 has been granted FHA approval.

It's a real estate rule of thumb: during economic recessions, co-op apartments are generally more popular than luxury condominium listings. The ostensible reasoning is that co-ops -- which demand more money down and involve what is often a painfully rigorous screening process -- are less volatile than condos. That is the rule of thumb, anyway. But a new report in The Wall Street Journal thumbs its nose at that particular rule of thumb by pointing out that, during the recent/ongoing recession, the market for NYC condos has been notably stronger than that for Manhattan co-ops. While this was especially true for luxury condo listings at the higher end of the condo price spectrum, it's more or less true for all Manhattan condominium listings. The big question, of course, is why.

There are various reasons why condo prices generally go up the higher the elevator climbs -- Manhattan views, distance from Manhattan street noise, Manhattan views, generous helpings of natural light, and Manhattan views. But while it's generally accepted that NYC condos climb in price by floor level, the question of just when the prices go up -- and just where -- is one that's a bit less clear. In The Real Deal, Matthew Strozier does his best to crack the code of NYC condo prices by floor. What he found will... actually probably not surprise you all that much if you've ever paid much attention to Manhattan real estate. But it is interesting to see what Strozier came up with.

You wouldn't necessarily know it from a lot of Manhattan apartments, but there are more options when it comes to furnishing a New York City apartment than buying too much furniture that you cannot find space for, throwing out your old coffee table because you found another, shipping your couch back home to your parents to make room for the oh-so-necessary desk, or deciding not to buy that shelf because you have no idea where you can fit it. Sounds crazy, but it's true. In what will become a semi-regular feature here at the New Construction Manhattan blog, we're going to get in service-y mode and outline some other routes you can take to make your NYC condo a home. Or at least a much less cluttered and better-organized NYC condo:

Europe: it's a great place to visit, the food is almost uniformly delicious and their way of living frankly makes a lot more sense than ours. What Europe is not, or at least hasn't been lately, is especially economically healthy. You might've read about this in literally every newspaper printed, but if you haven't: here you go and here you go (and yikes). Long story short: a bunch of Eurozone countries are in pretty serious economic trouble, the Euro's value has declined precipitously, and economists are -- ominous music goes here -- concerned. Given that the rest of the world economy isn't in appreciably better shape, all of this would suggest that perhaps international buyers wouldn't still be snapping up Manhattan condos. You'd think that, but it isn't so. As Reuters reports, international buyers are still keen on high-end Manhattan condominiums.