House prices in Brooklyn have hit another record high as the New York City borough’s housing sales market is showing no signs of running out of steam.
The median sales price in Brooklyn increased 16.2% to $770,000 in the first quarter of 2017 compared to a year earlier, according to a report by appraisal firm Miller Samuel on behalf of Douglas Elliman Real Estate released Thursday. This was the third consecutive quarter the borough had record median prices.
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Much of this was due to demand continuing to outpace the chronic lack of homes coming to market. Indeed, the number of sales jumped 46.2% to 2,800, while listing inventory fell 19.9% to 2,290, its second-lowest total in nine years.
In the luxury sector, defined as the top 10% of sales, it was a similar story, with median prices up by 37.2% to a record $2.545 million.
The number of sales was up 46.4% at 281, largely due to condo new-development closings.Listing inventory, meanwhile, was down 15.4% at 252.
"The way I’d describe pricing in Brooklyn is if it’s not breaking a record, it’s flirting with a record," said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Miller Samuel and author the report.
"It’s no longer just a cheaper alternative to Manhattan," he said. "It’s a new market and we don’t know how much further it can go and every quarter its seems surprise us."
A separate report by brokerage Corcoran, also released Thursday, found that the Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Dumbo and downtown neighborhoods in the borough had a dramatic 96% sales increase in total sales as a large number of new development properties closed in the first quarter.
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In yet another report released Thursday, brokerage Stribling & Associates added that northwest Brooklyn continues to have the most expensive inventory, logging an average price per square foot of $1,212.