In this morning’s Wall Street Journal Josh Barbanell reports that despite rising gloom about home sales across the country, sales of apartments in Manhattan appear to have strengthened this summer, with median prices up, inventory down and an increase in the number of apartment closings.

The figures suggest that the Manhattan market, buoyed by a resumption of hiring and a healthy Wall Street bonus season ahead, has so far escaped much of the distress across the country. The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that existing home sales nationwide plummeted by 27% in July, following the expiration of federal housing tax credits.

“Everyone has an opinion as to where the market is heading: the reality is all these opinions are guess-work,” says Leonard Steinberg of Prudential Douglas Elliman, who was contacted for this article but not quoted. “Ask anyone in the financial markets if we are heading into inflationary or deflationary times and the answer is consistently yes….and no.”