Miller Samuel, an appraisal concern, and Prudential Douglas Elliman, the real estate brokerage company, released today a 61-page report on the Manhattan "luxury" co-op and condo apartment sales market for 1999-2008.

The report indicated that the average sales price of a Manhattan co-op was a record $1,259,725 in 2008, 11 percent higher than the record $1,134,954 average sales price set in 2007. It noted that "the low mark for the past twenty years" was in 1995 "when the average sales price was $3,83,036," adding that "the 2008 average sales price is 185.8 percent higher than the $440,732 average sales price set a decade ago." The average price per square foot last year was a record $1,097, the report found.

At the end of last year, the study said there were 3,808 co-op apartments listed for sale, 34.5 percent higher than the 2,831 listings available at the end of 2007. It found that 4,586 co-op apartments were sold last year, "down 29 percent from a decade high of 6,461 in 2007" and "below the 5,288 average of the recent decade."

The Financial District went from the top performing co-op market in 2007 to the bottom performing co-op market one year late," the report declared, noting that "part of the reason for this sharp change was the limited number of sales in the market that subjected the data to more volatility," adding that "layoffs on Wall Street in 2008 likely played a role in the decline in demand for units in this market area."

The average sales price in 1999 for a co-op studio was $103,600, $218,061 for a one-bedroom, $555,907 for a two-bedroom, $1,510,412 for a three-bedroom and $3,696,027 for a four-or-more-bedroom.

The average sales price in 2008 for a co-op studio was $432,468, $708,339 for a one-bedroom, $1,632,387 for a two-bedroom, $4,097,873 for a three-bedroom and $11,611,743 for a four-or-more-bedroom.

The average sales price of a luxury condo apartment in Manhattan last year was $1,858,408, "19.7 percent higher than the record $1,552,495" set in 2007 and 182.2 percent "higher than the prior decade level of $658,617."

"Unlike the co-op market, which is primarily re-sales, one third of the condo market was comprised of new development sales last year" and "these were characterized by higher price points than re-sale property and their closing dates reflect contract prices signed twelve to eighteen months higher, skewing the results in 2008 above current market levels," adding that "the current year saw an unusually high level of luxury sales which went to contract in 2006-2007" in very expensive buildings.

The price per square foot rose 12.2 percent last year to $1,374 from the $1,255 record set in 2007 and the average price per square foot of a condo a decade ago was $480 a square foot.

At the end of last year, there were 5,273 condo apartments listed for sale according to the report, a 45.9 percent increase over the 3,615 listings available at the end of 2007 and well over the average of 2,976 units a year over the past decade.

There were 5,712 sales of luxury condo apartments in Manhattan last year, down 18 percent from the record 6,969 sales in 2007, the report continued.

A shift in the mix toward larger units in new projects resulting in the Battery Park City market posted the largest increase in price per square foot for condos last year when the figure was $1,153 a square foot, according to the report, which found that "Carnegie Hill was the only condo market to post decline in 2008," down 7.8 percent from $1,495 a square foot in 2007.