The Brooklyn Housing Bubble Has Not Burst

While the median price for Manhattan co-ops and condos dipped slightly in the first quarter of 2017, median prices for co-ops, condos, and townhouses rose by 16.2 percent in Brooklyn, reaching an all-time high as the market hit its fastest pace since the mortgage meltdown of 2008, according to several new market reports.

“In many ways the Brooklyn housing market is mirroring the national market – rising prices, rising sales, and a shortage of inventory,” says Jonathan Miller, head of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, which prepared a market report for Douglas Elliman. “A strong regional economy, a release of pent-up demand from before the national election, concern about rising mortgage rates – all played a role in the robust conditions.”

Average Brooklyn sales prices also set a new record high of $993,955, up 25 percent from the year before. The number of overall sales in the same period jumped 46.2 percent, for a total of 2,800 sales. Residential condos dominated the western swath of Brooklyn in the first quarter of 2017, as the median price for a condo increased 29 percent year over year to $1.3 million.

Inventory was the only major data point in that fell compared to the previous year — it fell by 19.9 percent. Average time for a listing on the market increased to 97 days, up 27 days from the year before.

The first quarter also brought some notable sales records of individual Brooklyn properties, Brownstoner reports, including 1 Verona Place in Bedford Stuyvesant, which broke the previous neighborhood sales record of $3.3 million, and 1 Main Street’s Clock Tower penthouse, which broke the borough record for condo sales after selling for $15 million.

About a year and a half ago, there was speculation that the market in Brooklyn would dip. These new market reports indicate otherwise.