Wealthy Renters "Take Over Brooklyn" as Property Values Soar and Foreclosures Increase: Report

It sounds like an oxymoron: Property values and rents are rising everywhere in Brooklyn, but at the same time, the gap between some of the poorest parts of the borough and everywhere else is widening, according to a new study from PropertyShark.

Contrast that to another phenomenon we’ve seen in recent years: The gap between home values in “prime” Brooklyn and central Brooklyn is shrinking.

The study turned up some interesting factoids:

• The number of new foreclosures in Brooklyn has more than doubled over the past five years, from 176 homes scheduled for foreclosure auction for the first time in 2012 to 417 homes in 2016.
• The foreclosures are concentrated in the eastern part of the borough. Five zip codes — representing Canarsie, East New York, East Flatbush and Flatlands — represent 208 of the 417 new foreclosures.

• The gap in home prices between the northwest and eastern areas of Brooklyn is widening. In 2012, the price gap was “around $500,000.” In 2016, it was $700,000.
• Median home prices have grown most rapidly in central and northeast Brooklyn over the same years. Prices in Bushwick, Bed Stuy and Prospect Lefferts Gardens increased more than 100 percent in the period studied.
• Prospect Lefferts Gardens ranked 27th among 37 zip codes in Brooklyn in 2012. Now it is No. 9. “The star of price hikes in Brooklyn is ZIP code 11225 (Prospect Lefferts Gardens),” said the report. The median sale price was $314,340 in 2012. It was $780,000 in 2016.

• North Brooklyn is no slouch. Prices in Williamsburg and Greenpoint increased 86 percent in the years studied.
• “Wealthy renters have taken over Brooklyn,” said the report. The number of renter households earning more than $150,000 per year has increased 324 percent since 2011. Most of them reside in the northwest Brooklyn.

Numbers such as these underscore the increasing cost of living in Brooklyn.

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• New Developments Widen Brooklyn-Manhattan Rental Price Gap
• Brooklyn Rents Rise Even Faster Than Manhattan’s, Narrowing Price Gap

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