Report: Manhattan sales prices decline in 4Q

The average and median sales prices of Manhattan apartments declined from the third to the fourth quarter of 2005, according to a report released Tuesday by Halstead Property. The average sales price of a Manhattan apartment was $1,089,946 by the end of the fourth quarter, down slightly from the nearly $1.14 million in the third quarter. The median sales price of an apartment declined $31,000 from the third to the fourth quarter to $699,000, Halstead reported. Both the average and the median sales prices in the fourth quarter were up over the same prices in the fourth quarter of 2004, however, when the sales price was $1.05 million and the median $675,000.