Now is a great time to sell a condo. To buy one, not so much.

Sellers now officially control the market for condos in Manhattan.

As per the Streeteasy May market report, it will take just 5.8 months to sell the inventory of condos currently available. 

The rule of thumb is, more than nine months of inventory is a buyers' market.  Six to nine months is a balanced market.  Less than six months is a sellers' market.

And don't forget, that 5.8 months of inventory includes condos with brick wall views, condos with huge monthly costs, condos that are wildly overpriced and have been sitting on the market forever, and condos with other fatal flaws which mean you don't want them anyway. 

The desirable condos are few and far between, and are getting snapped up the minute they become available.

So if you need a place to live in a hurry, these are your options:  tell your broker to keep her/his eyes peeled and let you know the SECOND something desirable becomes available, check out co-ops (depending on your needs, they may be a better option anyway--e-mail me at cstimpson@stribling.com to discuss) or start looking at rentals. 

Here's the link:  http://docs.streeteasy.com/monthly_market_report/2012-05-monthly-market-report.pdf