Don’t Even Think About Trying to Buy Into These Brooklyn Neighborhoods

Americans, historically a nomadic tribe, have spent the past half-century morphing into homebodies. The percentage of people who move each year has fallen by half since 1965, according to the U.S. Census, and last year it hit an all-time low of 11.2 percent. A recent trend in the most desirable Brooklyn neighborhoods is sure to further depress “domestic migration.”

A new study by StreetEasy reveals that there were 24 percent fewer homes for sale in April compared to a year ago in such popular Brooklyn neighborhoods as Brooklyn Heights, Gowanus, Red Hook, Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn and Clinton Hill, as well as the Prospect Park area, DNAinfo reports. The biggest drop in for-sale listings were in Prospect Heights (nearly 50 percent), Boerum Hill (46 percent) and DUMBO (38 percent).

"A mixture of desirability and affordability relative to many parts of Manhattan have made these areas some of the city’s most competitive," said StreetEasy’s senior economist, Grant Long. "Growth in supply has struggled to keep up with demand in this slice of Brooklyn, where a large share of recent construction has focused on the rental market, though these dynamics could change with a few of the upcoming condo projects in Downtown Brooklyn."

With the limited inventory, prices in this part of Brooklyn — which are among the highest in the borough — have been on the rise. The median price in Northwest Brooklyn rose 2.6 percent to $858,230, while the median price in the Prospect Park area jumped more than 4 percent to $801,514. Prices grew more, however, in more affordable areas like South Brooklyn, where the median price jumped 9 percent to $441,570.

According to the report, which only looked at re-sales and excluded new developments, Brooklyn as a whole saw prices reach a record high — rising more than 6 percent from the same time the previous year, to $584,121, according to StreetEasy.