In Search of the Perfect Brooklyn Brownstone, New York's Real Estate Unicorn

Brooklyn’s residential market for brownstones will start 2016 on a high note.

Longtime readers know that the competition for “unicorn” townhouses — well-located, well-priced homes with original details, a hefty width, and nice neighbors — can be fierce.

Lately, larger brokerages have brought a greater number of Brooklyn brownstones into the marketplace, even as international, all-cash buyers continue bidding up properties in prime neighborhoods, according to The Real Deal.

In recent interviews with several brokers for big-name real estate firms like Corcoran Group and Douglas Elliman, The Real Deal explored the Brooklyn residential market, its over-saturation and its limited supply.

Read on for a few high points.

Valued Areas Continue Expanding

According to licensed associate Douglas Elliman broker Patricia LaRocco, Brooklyn’s quiet, southwestern neighborhoods — Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Bensonhurst — accounted for a quarter of recent townhouse sales in the borough. Similarly, quiet neighborhoods like Kensington, where homes have yards and driveways, are seeing price increases as the fresh equivalents to their long beloved northern counterparts.

More Inventory Hasn’t Impacted Bidding Wars

LaRocco also reports the increase of listings for Brooklyn townhomes has not had an intense effect on the number of bidding wars, although it does ease buyers’ strain somewhat. The most impactful predictors of a bidding war are not similar quantity but width, price, and location of the home.

The Inventory Bump Still Doesn’t Meet Demand

Ideal Properties Group Managing Director Aleksandra Scepanovic clarified a different truth, this one regarding 2015’s alleged surge of townhomes to the market. While it is accurate that more townhouse inventory was added to the market this calendar year in neighborhoods like Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens, it has created an almost inconsequential increase in listings, and the borough-wide inventory for such “unicorn” homes remains spotty.

It is perhaps this lack of listings that has driven buyers’ interest in townhomes as far out as East New York and Bushwick, Scepanovic states.

Luxury Buyers Aren’t Brownstone Buyers

As Scepanovic goes on to say, the market for luxury condos does not necessarily benefit from the high demand for brownstones. Buyers who want townhomes are after a specific product. Thus, continued luxury development is somewhat parallel, a counterpart market.

Predictions For 2016

As for what the future will hold, the brokers appeared in agreement that townhouse development will increase, but on a limited scale. Such single-family developments are often built in landmarked areas which limit the height of buildings. Still, Corcoran Group broker Deborah Rieders expects to see such developments popping up with increased frequency in Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Fort Greene and Cobble Hill.

[Source: TRD]

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