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The article examines housing prices in Manhattan, New York City. As home sales and prices have declined in the U.S. during 2006-2007, both the number of sales and the prices for Manhattan apartments have seen sharp growth. In the second quarter of 2007, the average price of a Manhattan studio apartment rose 16.5 percent from the same quarter of 2005. New demand from foreign buyers, retirees, and renters is credited for the surge.

The article focuses on the home renovations of Kelly Giesen. Giesen, who works in marketing and sales from Pfizer Inc. in Manhattan, is three months into her second New York renovation in five years. Comments from Giesen regarding her various home renovations projects are included. The author suggests that Giesen is one of the few who love home renovations.

Reports that more and more international buyers are purchasing real estate Manhattan. Comments from Patricia Warburg Cliff, senior vice president and director of European sales at the Corcoran Group, who says that although there has been an increase in foreign buyers, the idea that foreigners are flocking to Manhattan is somewhat overrated; Influence of low mortgage rates on the foreign buyers trend; Idea that Manhattan has improved its image in terms of livability.

ONE reason that buyers are avoiding new construction these days is the challenge of securing a mortgage when the building is less than 70 percent sold. But buyers in almost new buildings court similar heartache if too few units are occupied by owners. ''A lender may say they can only offer 60 percent financing, instead of 80 percent, because there are too many sponsor or investor-held units,'' said Luigi Rosabianca, a real estate lawyer at Rosabianca & Associates in Manhattan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FEW things make me as restless as seeing too far ahead, which is probably why flattened suburban and exurban landscapes tend to sharpen my longing for the vertical metropolis of Manhattan. Besides getting agreeably in my way, the city's brick-and-steel stalagmites function as part inspiration, part dare: Do you have the chops to survive, let alone thrive, as a squishy midget among hulking goliaths? But what if your vertical city should betray you? What if, for instance, your co-op building's only elevator is taken out of service -- for two months? And what if you happen to live on the ninth floor -- 144 steps above the Upper West Side trade route for everything you, your 10-year-old daughter and your husband depend on to survive in your suddenly breathtakingly inconvenient aerie? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article introduces the Hong Kong-based Blanc de Chine Co. store in Manhattan, New York City.

Features the newly constructed headquarters of the law firm of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel in Manhattan, New York City.

Features the office space rented by eye-wear company Robert Marc Opticians, located in the artsy Milk Studios building in Manhattan, New York. Description of the space; Statement of Robert Marc, president of the company, regarding the ambiance of the office.