Just how far has Manhattan’s ultra-luxury sales market gotten from the typical price range? In other words, does the average luxury market sale still even fall anywhere in the ballpark of a normal market sale in terms of price? In Manhattan, luxury market sales are always the attention-grabbing ones, with the finest condos in Manhattan seeming to generate by far and away the most headlines. And as it turns out, this hype over ultra-luxury sales is indeed pretty accurate: the prices that the average luxury market sales generate have gone into an entirely separate league fromManhattan sales as a whole.

Since 2009, two clear trends in prices can be mapped out: the average luxury market sale price and the luxury threshold. The average price refers to the price given for the average luxury Manhattan condo, while the luxury threshold refers to the very lowest price possible that would qualify a Manhattan condo as “luxury.” In tracing these two trends over the last few years, it quickly becomes evident that the starting threshold has stayed fairly steady, only increasing 7.3 percent over the past 3 years. Meanwhile, the average luxury condo price has increased by over 20% in the same amount of time, consistently staying millions above the prices found in the normal sales market.

Statistics like these demonstrate that the true power of the Manhattan sales market can be found at the very pinnacle of luxury sales. Famous luxury condos such as Walker Tower or One57 are dominating Manhattan’s imagination at the moment, and they have certainly earned their reputation. With high-echelon sales such as 30 Lincoln Plaza already demonstrably different than other condo listings in Manhattan, the opportunity to own an ultra-luxury condo is equivalent to obtaining a truly exclusive and unique piece of Manhattan real estate.