Although it has been a little more than a month since the third quarter ended, I thought I'd show that the average sales price of the five boroughs in aggregate broke the $1 million threshold for the first time, to a record $1,040,516.

Granted, the average sales price as a metric is subject to significant skew, and Manhattan has been doing a lot of the skewing lately. Yet the average sales price of New York City without the help of Manhattan also set a record high, reaching $552,894. For context, keep in mind that the U.S. housing average sales price was $255,500 in September, roughly a quarter of the NYC average sales price.

Taking stock of how far we've come since the financial crisis (a.k.a. the Lehman collapse), we find that the average sales price for New York City (including Manhattan) is 25.3% above the pre-Lehman high of $830,107. For average-sales-price skeptics, the median sales price for New York City (including Manhattan) also reached a record ($580,000) which is 18.2% above the pre-Lehman high of $490,500.

No wonder housing affordability is front and center in so many city political discussions these days.

· Three Cents Worth archive [Curbed]

· Manhattan Market Sees Higher Prices, But a Dip in Sales [Curbed]

· All Market Reports coverage [Curbed]