Co-op market sets six. price records.

Despite rising, interest rates, half a. dozen price records were set by Manhattan's cooperative apartment market in 2000's second quarter, according to REBNY's cooperative sales report. This was the sixth consecutive quarter -- an unprecedented streak -- during which median consideration for various kinds of co-op units reached the highest levels since the Real Estate Board began surveying this market in 1992.

Studio and one-bedroom units reached the record high of $90,750 per room, up 38% from the prior twelve months and the biggest gainer in. price for any category over that period. Two-bedroom units reached $154,250 per room. Four bedroom and larger units were $352,361 per room in the second quarter and all East Side prewar units were $166,375 per room, up 35% from the prior year's comparable mark All East Side postwar units were $125,025 per room, an increase of 32% from the price twelve months before.

All West Side prewar units were $134,500 per room, 12% higher than the previous record set in 1999's fourth quarter and 36% higher than the price posted in that year's second quarter.

Although not a record, the West Side postwar median price of $104,167 per room topped the price reported twelve months earlier by 16%, and fell just short of the seven-and-a-half-year high mark reached in 1999's fourth quarter.

REBNY executive vice president Deborah B. Beck said, "This market's remarkable sustained performance is vivid evidence of the unique intrinsic value of Manhattan real property over the. long term."

Hall Willkie, executive vice president of Brown Harris Stevens and chairman of REBNY's residential research committee, noted that "the climbing prices and faster transaction times show that demand for Manhattan co-ops has kept rising, even in a year with stock market fluctuations and interest rate hikes."

The increasingly scarce supply of available Manhattan units relative to the demand continued to be a major factor in driving prices upward and lowering the number of transactions.

The 648 reported sales were 98 fewer than the total reported a year earlier -- a 14% decline, but evidenced a slight increase from 2000's first quarter.

Studio and one-bedroom co-ops accounted for 5:1% of all transfers, which explains the prevalence of sales of East Side prewar and post war units in the $l00,000-to-$200,000 range. The most common price for West Side prewar co ops was between $200,00 and $300,000. The dominant price ranges for postwar unit transfers were the $200,000-to-$300,000 and $300,000-to-$400,00 spans.

The median transaction time fell 21% from a year earlier, declining from 5.3 to 4.2 months.