No Alarms, No Surprises: Brooklyn Home Prices Are Still on the Rise
It is almost not newsworthy to report that, in the third quarter of 2016, the average cost of homes in Brooklyn rose over the same period from the year before. And, in a Real Estate Board of New York report, we are told that all five boroughs became more expensive places to home shop in the span of a year—most telling, however, is where Brooklyn prices shot up the most.
In Ocean Hill/Brownsville, just Northwest of East New York, average condo prices saw the steepest increase in 12 months: 180 percent(!), to $423,000.
Meanwhile, condo prices across all of Brooklyn increased an average of 14 percent to—ouch—$1,034,000. Yes, in the third quarter of 2016, one had to be a millionaire in order to transact a condo sale. As for Brooklyn homes, prices increased eight percent to $891,000, according to the report.
Notably, the average sales price in one previously sizzling-hot market decreased: Williamsburg. (Have you heard? Williamsburg died several years ago. Also, this could be due to the loss of the L in 2019.) There, average condo prices fell five percent to an easy $969,000. However, the volume of sales did increase two percent, for a total of 120, compared to the year before.
Still elsewhere in Brooklyn, prices inched, or shimmied, or jogged upward at varying paces: In Bed-Stuy, one-to-three family home prices increased 19 percent to $1,284,000. In Gowanus, the same inventory sky-rocketed 41 percent to $2,035,000. And in Prospect Lefferts-Gardesn, co-op rates jumped 52 percent to $498,000.
As mentioned, Brooklyn is not alone in this trend. The average home sale increase for all of New York City last quarter was 11 percent, totaling $981,000, coming in just under the 1 million mark. Which, actually, is alarming, but not much of a surprise.
Finally, of particular note, is one statistic out of Staten Island. There, in the neighborhood Arrochar (not far from the Staten Island Ferry), average home sales increased 81 percent to $707,000. This falls in line with what we might have seen coming with the arrival of a luxury residential project called Urby (with its in-house farmer and craft-beer inventory) just a hop, skip and jump away in Stapleton.
All of New York City is an egregiously expensive place to live, and certainly in which to buy a home. Brooklyn might fit into this, and look vastly different than it did not very long ago—but with this report, we can rest-assured: regardless of that change, if you’re determined to stay in the city, there are currently few better options.
H/T: DNAinfo