Bed Stuy Prices Soar in One Year
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…
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]
Even the Post is on it, non-snarkily, for the most part: http://nypost.com/2014/08/05/bed-stuy-real-estate-is-through-the-roof/
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.
So, to sum up,
Bed Stuy has natural foods too but natural foods are bad.
Bed Stuy has half the amenities of Park Slope for half the price, and that’s why it will eventually be the same price of Park Slope.
My list was not hard enough on insufferable Park Slope.
My list was too hard on insufferable Park Slope.
You guys are too much!
But seriously, I love/hate Park Slope as much as the next guy. I don’t live there, but I shop there sometimes. Sometimes hang, stroll or dine in Bed Stuy.
You have to recognize the inherent qualities of a neighborhood that are difficult to develop through rapid gentrification.
And for the record, yes, I do think there are too many parents of very young children in Park Slope. A neighborhood needs balance in order to be healthy.
I think Bed-stuy is glorious, but over-priced. Consider this: 110 years ago, Flatbush was touted as an alternative to the very qualities that Bed-Stuy is now in demand for. Wealthy people didn’t want tall, narrow row houses with tiny front yards, windows in front and back only, and bedrooms overlooking the street. They wanted suburban style homes with air and light. Now those grand homes, considered an improvement, are half the price of Bed-Stuy.
….don’t forget about the insufferable people of Park Slope who make silly lists like this.
FYI Bedford Stuyvesant is getting a Sprouts type market this time next year. Never really understood the organic or today natural thing: http://lifehacker.com/5941881/what-does-organic-really-mean-and-should-i-buy-it
$1-1.3M
They could go to Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Ditmas Park, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Flatbush, PLG, Crown Heights, Bushwick. All pretty much cheaper than the trophy properties in Bed Stuy.
As to whether Bed-Stuy will catch up to Park Slope, does it have
Whole Foods, Union Market, Food Co-op and the like
Movie Theaters at both ends
PS 321
Al Di La and the rest of the 5th ave restaurant scene
World class huge park within walking distance
biggest farmer’s market in BK
Hotels (in Gowanus, anyway)
Choice of subway lines at both ends
These are the things that made PS the yuppie paradise that it is, and that are hard to come by, even with decades of gentrification. That Park Slope and Bed Stuy have good housing stock is just one thing that contributes to a neighborhood.
And I personally think Bed Stuy has so much more soul than bland, pregnant-mom Park Slope at this point!
i’m interested to hear how you think it’s overpriced. the amenities don’t add up to the property value so it’s overpriced in that sense, but if someone wants to live within close proximity to ny (not NJ) and buy a single family house or multi-property where do they go for $1-1.3M without having to do much work? There aren’t many options which makes me thing that Bed Stuy isn’t overpriced if the alternatives aren’t that far off.
for pure investors, from what i can tell there seems to be some demand for renting single family homes such as those in the manor, but you would obviously know better. diff story if you are living in and looking for rental income, but I imagine most folks at this price point are not as concerned with rental income right? i have rarely had problems with B/Q since moving here over the last year.