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  1. I too am skeptical that these families are buying houses based on their “income”. Rather, they are cashing in from multiple sources, as soundhoner says.
    There is a worldwide gradual transfer of wealth from the aging, retiring baby boomer generation down to Gen X (people age 35-50 or so). A BedStuy brownstone is just the latest grand asset, traded from other things.
    Many of the people around 70, who 40 years ago were middle class, did quite well because of real estate, investments, etc, and want to provide for their grandkids. Perhaps they themselves have downsized their properties as they age, or see giving their children money for the downpayment as an investment for the late chapter of their lives.

    • While I agree that some of the future gentrification are already priced in, and mostly by investors. But when more amenities actually come, the area will become even more desirable to end users, which leads to further price increases, this has happened all over NYC.

  2. First off, there certainly are a lot of families with dual incomes who meet or exceed 300. In fact, that’s on the upper end of middle class in terms of Manhattan professional salaries, typical really. Secondly where did the 300 number come from? The article talks about multi-family houses, which you realize includes potential rental income. This means a 1.5m house is infinitely more affordable than even a 1m one bedroom condo. On a monthly outlay basis that is.

    Finally there are lots and lots of people who can afford it. Foreign buyers, couples with dual incomes, people who sold their Manhattan apartments, etc.

    There’s construction all over Bed Stuy, gentrification is far from over.