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LONG CONSIDERED a declasse alternative to Central Park's more highbrow neighborhoods to the east, Central Park West has come into its own.
For the first time in seven quarters, apartments along the 30-block stretch northward from Columbus Circle are winning higher average prices than those along Park Avenue, according to the latest survey of sales by the Halstead Property Co.
At an average $203,165 per room, Central Park West's fourth-quarter 1995 prices are up 37% from the fourth quarter of 1994. The current prices are 8% more than Park Avenue's, at $188,256, and closer than ever to the grande dame of them all, Fifth Avenue, now at an average $249,471 per room.
"It may be seen as sacrilege by traditionalists that Central Park West is ahead of Park Avenue," says Clark Halstead, founder and managing partner of the brokerage. "But the neighborhood has some significant pluses going for it."
More colorful than East Side?
Chief among those advantages are generally larger and more numerous apartment buildings, and less-restrictive co-op boards than the tony East Side.
"Some say Central Park West is more colorful...