City maintains the top spot for condo prices.

Manhattan may be in the grip of winter, but it continues to be the bright spot in the residential sales world.

Just released numbers from the Real Estate Board of New York show the median sales price for a city apartment last year was $775,000, up 7% from 2005.

A strong economy, the nation's highest salaries and continued low mortgage rates have been credited with helping the city retain the title of the most expensive condo market in the US. The REBNY report shows condos were primarily responsible for the hike in median price, achieving and $850,000 median, while co-ops increased slightly to $652,000. San Francisco remains the second most expensive condo market in the nation. According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price there is $616,800 followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach, which comes in at $406,600.

"2006 was another banner year for the Manhattan residential market, with price increases across the board," said Steven Spinola, REBNY's president, noting that median and average sale prices for apartments were up in most Manhattan neighborhoods.

"Manhattan's real estate prices continue to rise and we expect this upward trend is continuing into 2007," Spinola added. The East Side led the charge in 2006 with the highest median apartment sales price in Manhattan, reaching $930,000, a 17% increase over 2005 prices. The East Side condo median price spiraled upward by 32% from 2005 to $1,125,000 and East Side co-ops gained nine percent, reaching a median sales price of $816,000.

Among other key findings in the report: Manhattan condominium units in 2006 saw their median and average sales price per square foot increase 10% to $1,026 and $1,058, respectively, compared to 2005;

In 2006 the median and average sale price per room in Manhattan cooperative units rose three percent to $194,000 and four percent to $237,000, respectively, compared to 2005;

Mid-Manhattan condominium units in 2006 saw their median and average sales price per square foot increase 10 percent to $1,047 and $1,093 respectively, compared to the prior year;

Northern Manhattan median sales prices for condominiums showed significant percentage increases, with small apartments of 650 s/f or less up nearly 26% over 2005 and mid-size apartments between 851 and 1,000 s/f up by 55%.

With the record Wall Street bonus money expected to turn up in the first quarter numbers for 2007, brokers are generally upbeat about the prospects for the next year and beyond.

"There's a lot of money in the city and now we have a fresh injection of cash coming from the billions of dollars in Wall Street bonus money, so it's all good," said Toni Haber, executive vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Noting that the city's inventory is tight, Haber predicts the first quarter numbers for 2007 will show a definite improvement on the last six months of 2006. "I think we'll see days on the market drop and prices go up," she said.

The NAR is similarly optimistic about the national market's prospects for 2007.

The association has just produced the first of a series of reports on metro area condominium and cooperative prices, covering changes in 51 markets. The report showed that, in the fourth quarter of 2006, the national median existing condo price was $228,200, which is 12.3% higher than a year ago. In all, 27 areas showed double-digit annual gains in the median condo price; there were seven areas with declines.

"The national condo price is higher than the median single-family home price because there is a high concentration of condos in the most expensive metropolitan areas," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "The data shows that within a given area, the typical single-family home costs more than the median condo price."

NAR president Thomas M. Stevens said the long-term outlook for home prices and sales is favorable. "There is a powerful underlying demand for homes from a growing population, which will keep housing at a high plateau.

"The children of the baby boom generation, often called the echo-boomers, are the second largest generation in U.S. history and are just entering the period in which people typically buy their first home. Along with a strong immigrant impact, and the boomers themselves who remain in peak earnings years, this means the need for housing will stay strong over the next decade and long-term prices will continue to rise."