Brooklyn and Queens Home Sales Rise for First Time Since 2017
Brooklyn and Queens Home Sales Rise for First Time Since 2017
(Bloomberg) --
Homebuying makes sense again in Brooklyn and Queens.
Deals rose in the New York boroughs for the first time since 2017, with purchases in Brooklyn climbing 2.9% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to a report Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. In Queens, the increase was 6.8%, even as the median sale price reached yet another record high.
Buyers are returning after years of escalating prices dimmed Brooklyn’s status as a haven from Manhattan’s high costs. For a time, leasing was a more-attractive option as a flood of apartment construction helped push down rents. Now, lower mortgage rates and shiny new developments are enticing more renters to become owners, and even luring Manhattanites across the East River.
“That Manhattan purchaser has been priced out of the Manhattan market,” said Steven James, chief executive officer of Douglas Elliman’s New York City division. “They wanted to own, and they couldn’t own at the price they wanted to pay, and they found alternatives in Brooklyn and Queens.”
The median price of Brooklyn homes that changed hands in the quarter was $800,000, up 1.9% from a year earlier but still lower than the Manhattan median of $999,000.
The biggest increase in sales was in the $2 million to $3 million range, the firms said. At that price point, Brooklyn offers a greater variety of property options, such as townhouses, which tend to have fewer fees than co-ops, according to Nadia Bartolucci, a broker at Douglas Elliman.
In Queens, the median price climbed to an all-time high of $610,000, up 7.4% from a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nic Querolo in New York at jquerolo1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Giammona at cgiammona@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus
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