Bed-Stuy: 'Experiencing a Little Bit of a Depression'?
The New York Times took a look at Bedford-Stuyvesant this weekend as an area once considered one of the roughest in the city, but one with a rich cultural history where you can now smell gentrification in the air, mainly via the fragrance of higher-end retail. More interesting than the article’s notes on gentrification is…
The New York Times took a look at Bedford-Stuyvesant this weekend as an area once considered one of the roughest in the city, but one with a rich cultural history where you can now smell gentrification in the air, mainly via the fragrance of higher-end retail. More interesting than the article’s notes on gentrification is how it touches on current home values in Bed-Stuy: “‘We’re actually experiencing a little bit of a depression,’ said Tanya Blackwood, owner of Location Location Location, a real estate agency. ‘We’re back to where people are undervaluing houses—it’s just bananas.’ The neighborhood’s size makes it difficult to narrow down a price range for houses, but livable two-families generally start around $600,000, said Keith Mack of the Corcoran Group. A house in great shape, he said, might fetch $875,000. (Houses in the historic district still command a little more, but there are very few listed.) A perusal of Web sites like PropertyShark.com shows houses trading at or below $600,000. ‘I could’ve given you a general price point a year ago,’ said Lakeisha Edwards, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman. ‘But it’s now really property by property; in between those are so many short sales and foreclosures.'” Agree?
History, With Hipper Retailing in Bed-Suy [NY Times]
Photos by nvrlowdown
Denton
The price the homes sell for impacts
– the rental market (not all old timers are home owners)
– the tax base. Higher appraisals mean higher taxes. Older owners on fixed incomes risk being priced out if there is too big of a jump.
– Young buyers who grew up in the neighborhood can’t afford to buy in the area they have lived all their life.
Dave have you ever looked up youre neighbors finances on ACRIS?
I have never said that prices in my neighborhood and Brooklyn brownstones everywhere would not drop. They won’t fall 50-70% though.
If you can come up with some hard evidence that they will I’d like to see it, since you actually work in finance and I’m just a dumbass over invested in real estate in the ghetto and three other nice locations.
People have been on that 50-70% off wagon for a long time here and yet lots of places are selling 10-20% off. All those buyers must be wrong; but then they would be since they are the ones who have actually made the money and are willing to spend it.
Bxgrl,
Not everyone. After nearly a decade of residents I can say with sincerity: I love Brooklyn. And as soon as I can put together a down payment, I’ll likely find something to buy. If, that is, the relationship between incomes and home values corrects. I am young and make a healthy wage. I hope it works out.
However,the persistent defense of multi-million dollar brownstones is absurd. In the past decade, people lived and bought beyond their means. This includes bed stuy (see the foreclosures). Current prices are aberrations, holdovers of a time, economy, and lending environment that no longer exists. For dave to pathologically defend them is a testament to his bias.
Defend Brookly to the death, but don’t defend price points.
Obsessed with: the carriage house. And the light afforded by bordering on a driveway instead of another building.
Not wild about: honestly, I wish I knew. I think it’s a location thing. Farther, by bicycle, from the places we go, mostly.
In general, I think the place is in great shape (okay, so the carriage house needs a roof) and the price is right, and I’m kind of amazed it is still on the market.
denton…I suspect that all my neighbors on my block, who I believe have all owned their homes for many decades, are laughing all the way to the bank.
“At least I don’t have to live in some hole in Lodi, NJ.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 24, 2009 3:49 PM”
Smells like sanitation….
“HEY WHAT….you seem to know all about Bed Stuy (at least since 1970, which accounts for about 15% of it’s entire history!!!)….what’s your take on this article????”
This tape will self destruct in five seconds, Good luck Mr. Phelps….
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
“Prices needed to come down to reality so residents that have a been a positive influence turning the neighborhood around can afford to stay.”
Crooklyn, I get the sentiment, but not the finance. If you bought your home in 1975 for 20k, what does it mean ‘afford to stay?’ The current price means nothing to the original pioneers except that they can either stay or sell and move somewhere else and have enuf money to live on for the rest of their lives.
HEY WHAT….you seem to know all about Bed Stuy (at least since 1970, which accounts for about 15% of it’s entire history!!!)….what’s your take on this article????