Average price of Manhattan apartments jumped at end of 2012: Report

Buying an apartment in Manhattan is getting more expensive, as the average price rose to $1,486,692 at the end of 2012, up 7% from the same time period in 2011, according to a new report.

The increase is likely due in part to a 44% jump in sales of apartments costing more than $10 million, according to data released in real estate brokerage Halstead Property's quarterly report.

"There were a significant amount of high-end sales [and] inventory continued to drop to the lowest level in five years," said Halstead president Diane Ramirez. "I foresee the inventory continuing to shrink and the demand remaining high -- which will make for an interesting year."

Total sales also jumped 40% to 2,297 compared to the same time last year. Further, the time it took to sell an apartment dropped to 114 days, which is a 7% decrease from 2011.