ALL MANHATTAN CONDO CATEGORIES TOP $550/SQUARE FOOT MEDIAN MARK IN THIRD QUARTER, REBNY REPORTS; SIX PRICE RECORDS SET

Sales of all unit size categories of Manhattan condominium apartments topped the $550 median price per square foot mark for the third consecutive quarter during the period between July and September, according to the Real Estate Board's Condominium Sales Report, and six price records were set. The market's performance once again ran counter to general economic conditions.

Overall, the median price per square foot of a Manhattan prewar condominium rose 15 percent from the previous year's comparable mark to a new record high of $674. Sales of apartments of 650 square feet or less at $632 per square foot came in at 20 percent higher in median price than the $525 per square foot obtained twelve months earlier. Most of the 299 prewar apartment transfers occurred in the $3000,000-to-$400,000 price range, a shift upward from the $200,000-to-$300,000 span seen for most of the 222 transfers registered during 2001's third quarter. There were 35 percent more reported transfers of prewar condos than during the comparable period a year before.

Here are the other median price per square foot records set in 2002's third quarter:

REBNY Executive Vice President Deborah Beck said, "Scant supply, high demand, the lowest interest rates in a generation and investors' recent dismay with the stock market keep Manhattan condominium prices and appreciation rates rising through this prolonged recession."

Hall Willkie of Brown Harris Stevens, Chairperson of REBNY's Residential Research Committee, noted that "A Manhattan apartment has proven to be one of the world's most appealing places to live and one of the world's safest places to park your money."

The survey's findings included the following other highlights: The 14 percent gain over twelve months for Manhattan postwar condominiums of 650 square feet or less was the largest median per square foot price increase for any category. Postwar units in the $400,000-to-$500,000 range accounted for the most sales in this sector. Although East Side sales set no new records, units there still drew a median price per square foot above $700. A 47 percent increase in the number of East Side postwar condominium transfers was attributable to robust sales activity at 845 United Nation's Plaza and 1760 Second Avenue. West Side postwar condominium sales were up 52 percent over the preceding twelve months, with transfers at 3 Lincoln Center and 200 Riverside Boulevard lifting that figure. Downtown, sales were up 38 percent for prewar units from year-earlier mark (sales at 252 Seventh Avenue were an important factor in this rise) and 32 percent for postwar units.