Best Value NYC Neighborhoods | Where is There Still Room to Grow?
10 NYC Neighborhoods Where Home Prices Rose the Most in 2010-2019
At the end of 2019, Streeteasy reported that 8 of the 10 NYC neighborhoods where home prices rose the most in the decade of the 2010s were in Brooklyn. This is not surprising for a number of reasons.
Brooklyn was definitely the borough of choice for homebuyers and developers in the last 5-10 years. With real estate values at an all time high a few years ago, many buyers were simply priced out of Manhattan. Being priced out, buyers began looking in Brooklyn and realizing the amazing things it has to offer: many tree-lined brownstone streets, great shopping and restaurants, subway access, low carrying costs and lots more.
Developers quickly realized, and acted upon, the change in buyer behavior, and their willingness to pay more to live in Brooklyn. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods have seen numerous developments and new units come to market in the last decade. These new developments have also resulted in an increase in sales prices throughout Brooklyn.
Even with the increased prices in Brooklyn, buyers can generally still get more for their money in Brooklyn than Manhattan, and monthly carrying costs are overall lower in Brooklyn than Manhattan.
Brooklyn is not the only hot borough
Queens and the Bronx have also seen a large jump in prices in the last decade. Long Island City and Astoria are as popular as ever, and demand is spreading farther east in Queens. We did our first deal in the Bronx – investor clients looking to capitalize on low prices with the expectation of price appreciation in the near future. Many developers have started looking to the Bronx for their next projects as well.
Digs Picks for 2020 | Best Value NYC Neighborhoods
Despite the massive amount of development in the last decade, we still love Greenpoint and see good things happening there in the near future.
We also see lots of potential growth in Hamilton Heights and Hudson Heights. These are two often overlooked neighborhoods with good subway access and lots of pre-war beauties. Most of the housing stock here is co-ops, making it more difficult to buy as an investment, but if you’re looking to buy and live somewhere for 5-7 years, we believe you’ll see good appreciation in these neighborhoods.
Is it a good time to invest?
In prime Manhattan, condo units and multi-family rarely trade above a 3% cap rate, and in Upper Manhattan, multi-family typically trades between a 4-5% cap rate. Accordingly, if your primary investment goal is immediate positive cash flow, chances are that you will not be cash flow positive if you are financing your investment purchase. If you are looking for long-term growth, or perhaps looking to purchase a multi-family, where you can live and help pay your mortgage with one or two tenants, now is as good a time as any to buy and hold a property with the expectation that its value will increase over time
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Digs Realty is a residential real estate brokerage in NYC that provides full service at a discount. The Digs Mission: Saving you money without compromising service. We give our home buyers up to 67% of our commission and charge our sellers up to 4% less than traditional brokerages.