Er, it can't happen here, right?
Brooklyn Real Estate tumbles alongside Wall Street

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Brooklyn home prices tumbled 5.6 percent in the third quarter as Wall Street job losses reduced demand for real estate in the New York borough across the East River from lower Manhattan.

The median sale price for a home in Brooklyn fell to $510,000 from $540,000 a year earlier, according to a report issued today by New York-based real estate appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The number of sales tumbled 38 percent to 2,298.

Unemployment and tighter credit standards are cutting demand for real estate in New York City, said Paul Purcell, a partner in real estate consulting firm Braddock & Purcell. New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson yesterday raised his forecast for job losses in the city's financial service industry to about 35,000 over the next two years, up from his earlier estimate of 25,000, as the U.S. economy worsens.

``It's getting tougher and tougher to get a mortgage in New York, even if you still have your Wall Street job,'' Purcell said in an interview. ``Most lenders have stopped counting bonuses as income, and for Wall Street workers, that's the bulk of their paycheck.''