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Brooklyn real-estate prices continue to buck a nationwide downward trend.

In the first quarter of 2007, prices rose 9 percent over the same period last year, according to HMS Associates, a real-estate appraisal firm. But the survey’s author cautioned that the health of our real-estate market still hangs on a single word: “Manhattan.”

“Should Manhattan fall, Brooklyn will go right after,” said HMS Vice President Sam Heskel. “Manhattan is the only reason why these neighborhoods popped up in the first place.

“I’ve talked to a lot of developers, and they’re all nervous. They’re sitting on stock,” he added. “They’re not desperate enough to drop prices, but they’re putting in more amenities to drum up their product.”

Indeed, Oro condominiums, on Gold Street, will have a 50-foot indoor pool and basketball court, plus its own bar. Likewise, the Forte condominiums, on Fulton Street and Ashland Place, offers an indoor fitness center and a 24-hour concierge service.

But not everyone agreed with Heskel’s appraisal.

David Weiss, the developer of the luxury apartment building Greene House, in Fort Greene, told The Brooklyn Paper, “We have yet to see the peak of the Brooklyn market.”

“In the coming years, will see an escalation in prices as the neighborhoods really become all that people believe they can be.”

Weiss was not the only Brooklynite to disagree with Heskel.

Robert Scarano, one of the borough’s most prolific architects, argued that Brooklyn has “developed its own sense of place” and is therefore less subject to the kind of upheavals seen in the Manhattan market.

“Brooklyn is surpassing the Manhattan market in a lot of ways,” said Scarano. “There’s a much different kind of offering here than in Manhattan, and that’s what people are looking for. They’re not looking for a corporate environment. They’re looking for an eccentric one.”

The HMS survey analyzed first-quarter sales in 16 neighborhoods across Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Park Slope, Williamsburg, and Boerum Hill — all of which saw price increases ranging from 3 to 18 percent. Meanwhile, Greenpoint, Carroll Gardens, Clinton Hill, and Brooklyn Heights saw decreases of 6 to 35 percent.

Heskel cautioned that the individual neighborhood numbers shouldn’t be looked at too closely because the sample sizes are too small for each neighborhood. But overall, the report showed:

• The average Brooklyn home price rose nearly 9 percent, to $757,000, in first quarter 2007.

• Single-family homes rose from $607,000 to $688,000, four-families from $989,000 to $1,164,000, and condos from $437,000 to $551,000.

©2007 Community Newspaper Group