NEW YORK — Think Vancouver house prices are high? You need to be a millionaire to buy an “average” apartment in Manhattan today, and out of that amount you’ll at best come away with just $1,095 to furnish it.

One new residential real-estate report says $998,905 US is now the average sale price for a place to live in New York’s premier borough, while another announces the price has already broken through the psychological barrier of $1 million to reach $1,001,000.

The quarterly reports compiled for two leading real-estate brokerages say a return of big bonuses on Wall Street coupled with tight market supply and low interest rates are driving up prices at startling rates.

Some buyers are taking apartments “sight unseen,” said a spokeswoman for Corcoran Group, which said the average sales price exceeded $1 million in the first quarter of this year.

The other survey, done for Douglas Elliman, said even the median price — which is in the exact middle of all sales — is now $625,000, which is approaching $1 million Cdn.

Million-dollar apartments are invariably priced at $999,000 to avoid the city’s one-per-cent mansion tax on the sale.

“Sweeping views are but a few of the charms” of a one-bedroom condo on Central Park South, which the Corcoran Group lists for that amount. But the marble foyer leads to only 873 square feet of living space. And you have to be in the bedroom to see Central Park itself.

© The Vancouver Province 2004