Brooklyn Rents Are Skyrocketing More Than Ever
- Photo via Peter Feigenbaum/Bettercities
Yes, more of this. More “the market is hot, you’ll never be able to own your own home here” stories. Because the market is hot! You’ll never be able to own your own home here! Well, unless you specifically make a ton of money, in which case you’ll be alright no matter what.
With news this week that New York’s median rent has surpassed $3,000 for the first time ever (and every other story we’ve ever published about Brooklyn’s astronomical rents and home prices), second quarter reports indicating that prices are already up 15 percent from last year don’t come as such a huge surprise. Still, it’s pretty stark.
According to numbers just released by Corcoran and Douglas Elliman, the average sale price this quarter is up, and clocked in at $627,000, the highest in years. The median sales prices for luxury properties rose, too ($1,650,000, a 20.4 percent jump from last year), as did median rent ($2,737, up 13.5 percent from 2012), and rental price per square foot ($35.97, almost 10 percent more than last year).
Predictably, Williamsburg (which is also in the midst of an apparent baby influx) is leading the charge: the median selling price in North Brooklyn has risen to $715,011. Technically this statistic encompasses other bordering neighborhoods like Greenpoint, but given that 88.8 percent of sales were condos, you can sort of read between the lines on this one. It’s a little more complicated than just “ugh, gentrification”—the market is hot, yes, but inventory is also unusually low, which is driving prices up even further—but still, just a friendly reminder that everything is incredibly, cripplingly expensive.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.