By VIVIAN S. TOY
Prices for Manhattan real estate were relatively flat in the first three months of the year, but brokers anticipate a much stronger spring sales season, saying that many properties had recently prompted bidding wars, indicating a new level of buyer confidence. The median sale price for the first quarter was $775,000, unchanged from the same period in 2011, according to a report from Streeteasy.com that will be released on Tuesday. Reports from New York City’s largest brokerages also indicate relatively steady pricing, with one showing the median dropping by 1 percent and others an increase of 4 percent to 6 percent.
The average price rose, with Brown Harris Stevens and Halstead Property showing a 9 percent increase over last year to $1.48 million. That number, however, was skewed by strong sales in the luxury market, including an $88 million penthouse at 15 Central Park West.
Hall F. Willkie, the president of Brown Harris Stevens, which represented the buyer and the seller in the $88 million deal, said the sale “had an immediate effect on comparable properties, but it also had an impact on the overall market in terms of confidence.”

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