Home Marketing & Statistics Brooklyn and Queens apartments retain values with modest price gains

Brooklyn and Queens apartments retain values with modest price gains

New York – July 29, 2008 – (RealEstateRama) — Bucking the national trend of falling real estate prices, average sales prices for homes in New York City increased 12% in the second quarter of 2008 to $824,000 compared to the same period last year, according to a report released today by ResidentialNYC.com, the city’s premier real estate listing web site managed by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).

The report, which tracks the sales prices of all homes (apartments and one-to-three-family dwellings) in New York City found that apartment prices citywide (condominiums and cooperatives) increased 21% to $1,007,000, compared to the second quarter of last year.

In Manhattan, average apartment sale prices (condominiums and cooperatives) increased 29% to $1,548,000. Brooklyn and Queens apartments retained their values in the second quarter with Brooklyn average sales prices rising 3% to $500,000 and Queens average apartment prices increasing 7% to $286,000.

“The second quarter report found that in the midst of falling property values nationwide, prices are still rising throughout New York City, particularly for apartments, despite some declines among single-family homes,” said Steven Spinola, REBNY President. “Manhattan average sales prices experienced substantial gains in the quarter and led to the citywide increases, but Brooklyn and Queens apartment average sales prices also saw increases, and are clearly retaining their value.”

Rising citywide average prices are attributed to the continuing price increases for Manhattan apartments, particularly condominiums. Throughout New York City, condominium average sales prices increased 29% to $1,316,000. In Manhattan, condominium average sales prices increased 33% to $1,834,000 compared to second quarter of last year.

The report found that although Manhattan condominium prices were bolstered by sales of high-end properties at buildings such as 15 Central Park West and The Plaza Hotel, condominium prices still climbed 9% throughout the borough without factoring in the most pricey units.

“Many industry watchers like to point out that, despite rising average condo sale prices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the number of sales are down compared to 2007, which was a banner year,” added Mr. Spinola. “However, based on the condo sales in the first two quarters of 2008 in Manhattan and Brooklyn, we will easily surpass the number of condo sales recorded in these two boroughs in 2006, a year in which the housing market was robust. Furthermore, our report shows that even when removing the ultra high-end sales, the Manhattan condo market still had substantial price gains.”

Here are additional highlights from the ResidentialNYC.com report:

Condominiums

• Brooklyn had the second highest average condominium price (behind Manhattan) with an average sales price of $596,000, which is 1% higher than second quarter last year.

• Queens average condominium sales prices increased 10% to $445,000.

Cooperatives

• The average sale price for a Manhattan cooperative increased 7% to $1,084,000.

• Brooklyn and Queens recorded a 2% increase for cooperatives with average sales prices of $344,000 and $227,000 respectively.

• Because of the decline in the percentage of Manhattan sales compared to the total sales in New York City, the average sales price for a cooperative unit in NYC was down 7% to $616,000 compared to last year.

One – Three Family Dwelling

• The average sale price for a one-to-three-family home in New York City declined 5% to $593,000 in the second quarter of 2008, compared to the second quarter 2007.

• Staten Island saw a 7% decline to $448,000; Queens a 6% decline to $555,000; Brooklyn a 5% decline to $638,000; and the Bronx a 5% decline to $480,000 over the same period last year.

Manhattan Neighborhoods

• The average sale price for a Manhattan Condominium unit on the Upper West Side increased 95% to $2,620,000 due to sales at several high-end luxury properties. In Midtown West the average sale price rose 68% to $2,313,000 in the second quarter 2008 compared to last year.

• The dramatic increases in these two neighborhoods are attributable to sales in 15 Central Park West and The Plaza, respectively. Omitting these high end sales from the average sale price calculation the Upper West Side would have seen a 18% increase to $1,586,000; Midtown West a 15% increase to $1,536,000, and Manhattan a 9% increase to $1,494,000.

Brooklyn Neighborhoods

• Cobble Hill and Dumbo/Vinegar Hill recorded the highest average condominium sale price, $1,367,000 and $1,357,000 respectively, in the second quarter 2008 compared to last year.

• The average sale price of a condominium in Williamsburg and in Fort Greene saw a 24% increase to $674,000 and $792,000 respectively, this quarter compared to a year ago.

• Other Brooklyn neighborhoods with noteworthy increases in average condominium sale prices this quarter include Sunset Park (38% to $459,000) and Crown Heights (33% to $548,000).

About ResidentialNYC.com

ResidentialNYC.com is the first comprehensive web portal enabling homebuyers to link to thousands of exclusive home listings in New York City from thousands of REBNY residential member brokers. Since launching ResidentialNYC.com has logged more than 10 million hits, and 350,000 page views from 100,000 unique visitors.

The site provides access to condos, co-ops, townhouses and homes both for sale and for rent. ResidentialNYC.com also contains a wealth of information about New York City’s residential real estate market, neighborhoods, school districts and more, making it the only true one-stop destination for New York City homebuyers on the Web.

About The Real Estate Board of New York

The Real Estate Board of New York is the city’s leading real estate trade association with 12,000 members. REBNY represents major commercial and residential property owners and builders, brokers and managers, banks, financial service companies, utilities, attorneys, architects, contractors and other individuals and institutions professionally interested in the City’s real estate. REBNY is involved in crucial municipal matters including tax policy, city planning and zoning, rental conditions, land use policy, building codes and legislation. In addition, REBNY publishes reports providing indicators of market prices for both the residential and commercial sectors.

**For a copy of the full report please contact Cara Gentile at 212-889-0808 x 125.