It has been a tale of two boroughs over the past year, as luxury prices in Queens witnessed a double-digit jump, but fell in Brooklyn.
According to the latest snapshot of sales in Brooklyn and Queens by appraisal firm Miller Samuel on behalf of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the median price of luxury properties in Queens rose 10% in the second quarter of the year to $1.1 million, compared with the previous three months. On an annual basis, they were 15% higher.
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Over in Brooklyn, meanwhile, the median luxury sales price was $1.9 million, up 2.4% on the quarter, but 6.2% lower than a year earlier.
The divergence in price growth can be partly explained by the fact that there were many more sales in Queens, driven by the popularity of luxury new builds in the waterfront neighborhood of Long Island City.
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There were 269 luxury property sales, defined as the top 10% of the market, between April and June in Queens, up from 252 in the first quarter and 254 compared to a year ago. In Brooklyn, there were 189 sales, down from 192 in the first quarter, but up from 179 a year earlier.
Brooklyn has traditionally been the more affordable alternative to Manhattan, but as that market became hot, many have looked for the next breakthrough market and have been drawn to Queens, driving up prices.
“A steady increase of Brooklynites seeking out affordability has helped drive prices higher in Queens. This spillover effect has been happening for a couple of years,” said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Miller Samuel. “Brooklyn’s luxury market is now behaving like the rest of the region, which is softer at the top.”
This followed a report out last week, which showed that Manhattan’s luxury sales prices hit a fresh record of $8.3 million in the second quarter of the year, despite recent evidence of a slowdown at the top end of the housing market.
Much of the boost was due to luxury sales that had been in contract for the last 12 to 18 months in some of Manhattan’s most expensive new buildings. These pending sales closed in the second quarter, pushing average prices to a new high.
More recently, however, there has been anecdotal evidence of a slowdown in the luxury condo market against a backdrop of an oversupply on the market and waning demand from nervous investors amid global economic uncertainty and the U.S. presidential election.