Manhattan Prices Setting Records

Manhattan condominium and co-op prices are setting records while the rest of the country’s real estate markets are struggling.

The average price for an apartment reached $1.4 million in the last quarter of 2007, up 17.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, according to data tracked by the brokerage firm Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Average prices were pushed upward by the increasing number of units selling for more than $10 million. The number of sales jumped by 3.2 percent compared with the previous year, and days on the market declined by an average of 18. The inventory shrunk by 13.5 percent.