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Bed Stuy is hot and prices of town houses are rising are rising quickly there. Nine of the top 15 price records in the neighborhood during the past five years are from 2014, according to a story in The Real Deal.

In another measure, median sale prices of all types of homes there rose to $630,000 in the second quarter from $425,000 a year earlier, or nearly 50 percent. Asking prices, a more current but less reliable measure than closed sales, leapt 50.4 percent to $895,000 in June vs. the previous year.

The current price record for a residential sale, as reported, is 22 Arlington, which sold for $2,250,000 in June. Not long after, 96 Quincy Street sold for the same price, tying them for the current record. The “new asking price” for four-story brownstones is $1,800,000, according to Halstead agent and Bed Stuy expert Morgan Munsey. “As long as the tonier areas like Park Slope and Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill have $4,000,000 and $5,000,000 houses, this is still a deal here in Bed Stuy,” he explained.

The run-up in prices feels sudden after a plateau from 2009 to 2012. In 2008 and 2009, a glut of foreclosed properties were on the market. “There were tons [of properties] that people were just getting on the steps of the courts in Downtown Brooklyn,” the story quoted Douglas Elliman broker Jerry Minsky as saying. Recently more high-priced homes have become available as owners look to benefit from the high prices. Sellers are listing their homes “because the iron’s hot,” said Minsky. Click through to the story for a slide show of record-setting brownstones.

Bargain Hunting? Top 10 Sales in Bed Stuy [TRD]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. The idea of being able to afford a $3 million townhouse but still wanting tenants above is mystifying. You’ve got 25%, or sometimes much more. Why not buy a $1.5 million PLG single family? Why do you want to hear people walking above you? Why deal with fixing their dripping sink and negotiating their lease? You are loaded, don’t you want to live in the top floor and have privacy and roof access and flexibility?
    I must say, I am a big fan of row houses and brownstones and all, but there is a trendiness about them right now which is a little disconcerting. They are featured in the ads, the style mags, european decor photo shoots, but all that could change. In 5 years, thousands of young, hip, moneyed things will have parlors with pier mirrors, mantles and leaded windows. Sameness means the trend will pass. Some of us will love the houses forever, but the next trend might be the Sunset Park loft scene, or minimalist renovations of pre-war Jackson heights co-ops, or living in gaudy Midwood mansions built for the ultra-orthodox.

    • I agree with the “trendy” point, but when that happens the prices will still be the same (higher than now) and more mature home buyers (with families like PS) will be the ones interested in the area.

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