Though the copy in the listing doesn’t tip its hand, 200 E 27th Street is a great building to live in, well located at the corner of 27th and 3rd. The building boasts a fantastic roof top, the best place to see the July 4th fireworks with the twinkling New York skyline as backdrop.

The layout makes the most of the 725 square feet. When you need efficiency, the boxier the better. And closets. New Yorkers need closets and this apartment has plenty of them.

Friends of ours live on the first floor of this building. They have a huge patio with a privacy fence, outdoor lighting, a manly gas grill and a top-notch chef. Of course, that patio has nothing to do with this apartment, but at least you would know there is a couple in the building worth making friends with.

A couple of months ago, this apartment could easily have sold at its $545K asking price. But today with credit markets tighter than grandma’s girdle, the sellers need to come down to $485K to make me come knocking at the door.

In these alliterative economic times, with the “credit crunch” and the “mortgage mess” blanketing the news, prices in Manhattan are finally coming down. Slowly. Very slowly.

It took an “economic earthquake” and a “bank bust” to make it happen. Yet in these “terrible times,” there is a little “buyer’s bright spot.”

The Little Studio That Could increased its asking price from $275K to $300K. That little studio is in 96 Schermerhorn in Downtown Brooklyn, a building that I have a soft spot for.

Bravo, seller, bravo! As the only price increase in any of the apartments I have been watching, I must applaud the move. I mentioned the apartment was underpriced in my post a few weeks ago.

If it were any other apartment, I would be shocked at the gall, my perpetual state since 2005. Since Brooklyn has more gall than Manhattan, the ride down might be even slower on the other side of the bridge.

Pundits are calling this a buyer’s market, but I don’t know too many people buying. And what is going to happen to the New York market when there ain’t no money to be borrowed?

Gene and I sold our apartment in 96 Schermerhorn in May 2005. So naturally, we remain fascinated by what goes on in the building.

How much are the apartments going for now, we wonder? Translate: how far off the peak did we sell? We had a one bedroom, so studio apartment price wars are less relevant, but interesting nonetheless.

This penthouse studio is newly listed on Corcoran for $275k. The price caught me by surprise as our former neighbors sold their beautiful studio in 2005 for around $265k.

A studio on a lower floor with a $100 lower monthly maintenance and a $375k price tag is in contract. Is the difference between apartments worth $100,000? From our visits, the penthouses are not as glamorous as one would expect. But $100K is a steep drop, my friend.

Another studio in the building listed by a different broker is priced at $369k. Broker #2 tries to position her studio as having .5 bedrooms, but a click on the floor plan will show you that it is no larger than the others. Square footage for all three apartments unknown, but the floor plans indicate they are all about the same.

Hmmm, is our $275K requester just a motivated seller? Is there a real difference in the condition of the apartments?

Let’s watch this one.

Who doesn’t dream of buying an apartment in the West Village? And what ordinary mortal doesn’t give up this dream as unattainable?

The West Village is usually the first neighborhood to be written off when rubber meets the road. But here is a charmer that some reasonably employed person might be able to buy. Not that I can afford to buy it myself, but here is 800 perfectly-laid out square feet in the West Village for $725K.

The layout is nearly identical to our current apartment in Battery Park City. Only we’re renting and we’re in BPC.

This apartment is $906 per square foot, ladies and gents, below the $1000 psf barrier. In the Village. Maintenance is high at $1120. But still.

It “needs your loving touch.” Uh-oh.

I can tell that no one currently lives there by the sparse furniture in the photos. Desperate seller? Fifth floor walk up? How many years will that be tolerable? For our dog, Aimee, the climb would be tolerable for about one or two walks before she would insist on wee-wee pads.

The Village tranquility is probably vanquished by the stream of ambulances headed for St Vincent’s Hospital, a block away. At least you will reach the hospital in time if you are having a heart attack.