Million dollar price tags here to stay.

The townhouse and apartment markets each are reaching unprecedented new heights as low supply combined with buyers' worries about higher interest rates are sending prices skyward. And with a continuously low crime rate, families often don't find themselves as concerned for the safety and security the doorman at an apartment building provides. This is one of the many reasons the townhouse market is booming. According to a recent survey conducted by Douglas Elliman, the average sales price of a Manhattan townhouse has increased 10.1 percent in the past year to $4,041,650, breaking the $4 million threshold for the first time.

The price was almost double the record set in 1998 when the average sales price was just over $2 million.

Meanwhile the average price for a Manhattan apartment hovers near $1 million at $998,905.

Joanne Kennedy, of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, the exclusive Coldwell Banker franchise for Manhattan, said the price increases were driven by several factors, chief among them being low inventory.

"Low inventory means there are, in fact, fewer sellers coupled with more buyers than ever," Kennedy said. "So that is pushing prices up so there is competition in every segment of the market."

Not everybody wants to live in New York, of course. It only appears that way..

"When you think of a generation of New Yorkers who left the city to raise their families--that's one segment that is coming back," Kennedy said. Most, she added, are still working, but are empty nesters.

They are joined by "first-time buyers who want to take advantage of interest rates because they want to lock in a low rate with a belief that prices are going to stay firm and, if rates go up, they'll be priced out of the market," Kennedy added.

But for those who never have to worry about being "priced out," because they're so rich, the townhouse has become an increasingly likeable alternative.

"You have privacy, space and elegance--high ceilings, fireplaces, gardens," Kennedy said. "It's a marvelous way to live. You have your own garden, fireplaces. You can put in an elevator."

The apartment-alternatives are in good neighborhoods with few security concerns--even without a doorman--according to Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead Property.

Ramirez described the townhouse market as "very strong" and that space was a premium luxury in New York.

The Bloomberg administration's drive to continue to raise the quality of life has helped the townhouse market.

"Graffiti's almost a thing of the past--thank God," Ramirez said. "The security aspect someone may be concerned about is not glaring."

Halstead set a new record for a townhouse sale price last year, in a confidential Upper East Side transaction. And actor/director Woody Allen has rejected offers on his Carnegie Hill townhouse--list price: $21 million.

Karen Berman, vice president and director of sales for Argo Residential, said she had never seen prices as high, even adjusted for inflation.

The one similar price spike, she recalled, was in the late 1980s, soon after the stock market crash, when investors pulled their funds out of Wall Street. A year later, however, real estate prices plummeted.

As some homebuyers continue to be "priced out" of Manhattan, Berman said the gentrification of the outer boroughs has led to premium values. Her firm is brokering 35 co-op buildings in Forest Hills, Queens.

"I see a lot (of buyers) going to Forest Hills, a lot going to Woodside."

In addition, she added, the area of the Bronx surrounding Yankee Stadium is becoming popular. "You're getting a lot more professional people in those buildings," she said.