Manhattan co-op market continues to tighten.

Manhattan's co-op market posted two new records while continuing its striking ascent during the first quarter of 1999, as a shortage of inventory and strong demand drove a widespread surge in sales prices. So says the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) in its first quarter 1999 Cooperative Sales Report.

REBNY Executive Vice President Deborah B. Beck observed that records set for the six years since REBNY has been publishing the Cooperative Sales Report were:

* A median price per room of $69,000 for sales of studio and one-bedroom apartments - a 26 percent improvement from a year ago; and

* A median price per room of $102,000 for pre-War West Side co-ops - a 16 percent increase over the previous record and 36 percent higher than last year's comparable figure.

Moreover, she pointed out, the trend toward higher prices swept every category. Two-bedroom units posted a per room sales price of $112,917, a 13 percent increase over a year ago, and three-bedroom units averaged a median sales price of $172,857, a 9 percent increase from last year.

"A dwindling supply of available units combined with sustained strong demand during the first quarter propelled prices even higher," Beck said, adding that the average price span for sales jumped from the $100,000 to $200,000 range to the $200,000 to $300,000 range over the last 12 months.

The diminished inventory of available apartments accounted for a dramatic decline in sales volume; REBNY recorded only 460 sales during the first quarter of 1999, compared with 511 a year ago.

Surveying the market, Hall Willkie, executive vice president of Brown, Harris, Stevens and chairperson of REBNY's Residential Research Committee, reported that the West Side fared particularly well during the quarter.

In addition to the previously cited record for median room price for pre-war units there, the post-war median price climbed 14 percent over the past 12 months from $70,000 to $80,000 per room.

The East Side also registered impressive gains during the quarter, he noted. The median price per room for East Side co-ops was $120,000, an 8 percent climb from 12 months ago, the third time in the last four quarters this benchmark was reached. Moreover, Willkie said, for the first time since 1994, sales of East Side post-war units yielded a median price per room of $80,000, surpassing last year's first quarter's figure by 20 percent.

The Downtown market distinguished itself with appreciable gains in both median sales prices and sales volume, Willkie reported. Sales jumped to 86 from 68 a year ago, and the median sales price climbed to $269,000 from $165,000 during the same time period.

The median figure for transaction time - the date of listing to the date of closing - was virtually unchanged from the first quarter of 1998, edging up from 5.1 to 5.2 months. The East Side saw negligible upticks, from 5.6 to 5.7 months for pre-war sales and from 5.3 to 5.4 months for postwar transactions. West Side sales took a bit longer to consummate than in the first quarter of 1998. Transaction time rose from 4.6 to 4.9 months for pre-war sales and from 4.1 to 4.5 months for post-war sales.

The geographical distribution of sales activity shifted only slightly. Downtown accounted for 13 percent of total sales volume during both this year's first quarter and 1998's, while the East Side's share slipped slightly from 57 percent during the first quarter of 1998 to 55 percent 12 months later. The West Side, which accounted for 30 percent of the sales volume during last year's second quarter, dropped to 26 percent.