Coop prices reach record levels.

The average price for two-bedroom Manhattan cooperative and condominium apartments combined reached record levels in July 2002 to $999,532 according to data from the Corcoran Group. Sales volume on contracts signed in the month of July 2002 was up 56.5% over the same month of 2001. The majority of Corcoran deals in July occurred on the Upper East Side and Downtown Manhattan.

The demand for property and the ability for property to receive the asking price on the West Side of Manhattan has continued at a frenzied pace with the negotiability factor remaining at -0.3%. Several brokers report that their exclusives on the West Side are selling within 24 hours, often in a bidding war.

* A buyer looking to buy a two-bedroom coop or condos apartment can expect to pay just under $1 million. A first-floor, 2,000-SF, two-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side near the East River recently sold at asking price of $1,035,000.

* The average sales price for all categories of Manhattan residential properties in July 2002 was $891,303, compared with $792,000 for the same month of 2001. Studio apartments averaged a price of $246,228, one bedroom apartments $460,114, two bedrooms $985,415 and three or more bedrooms $2,467,974.

* The average price per SF for all Corcoran Group deals combined was $692. The average price per room for contracts signed on all categories of properties was $208,978.

* Corcoran brokers sold or signed contracts on five $5 million and above apartments and townhouses in July. All were located on the Upper East Side and ranged in price from $5.5 million to over $25 million.