In the middle of these cartoonishly dismal times, what’s a cosmetics executive to do if she wants to ask nearly $100 million for her penthouse? She’ll put it on the market without actually putting it on the market, just like a venture capitalist, a widowed philanthropist, a pharmaceuticals mogul and a Victoria’s Secret billionaire have recently done ...

Until this week, when news broke that hedge fund manager John A. Griffin paid $32.25 million for a co-op at 1030 Fifth Avenue, New York’s 10 most expensive residential listings looked more or less doomed. The thinking went that none of the three townhouses and seven apartments, each asking (officially or quietly) over $45 million, could possibly sell ...