Lack of Condos in Brooklyn Will Probably Not Change Anytime Soon

You would think, with pent-up crazy demand and no inventory, not to mention the bad old days of the housing bust well behind us, building condos in Brooklyn would be a sure bet and developers would be lining up with new projects. But high rents, rivaling those in Manhattan, and relatively low costs of land, again relative to Manhattan, are leading developers to build rentals rather than condos in Brooklyn, Bloomberg reported.

About 15,300 rental apartments are expected to hit the market in the next two years, vs. only 1,700 condo units, the story said. Douglaston Development, for example, is planning rentals for its next Williamsburg high rise project. Landmark Park Slope, 53 Broadway in Williamsburg, 101 Bedford, 5th North 5th, and Williamsburg Social are some prominent rental buildings that have recently come to market.

In Brooklyn, condos are a “more risky proposition” than rentals, MNS Chief Executive Officer Andrew Barrocas told Bloomberg. “You’re getting almost as much money for a fully leased rental building selling it as a whole than you are selling individual condo units in the market. You can do the greatest condo, and all of a sudden the timing changes and you lose money. Rentals are a great play — and it’s steady growth.”

Bad news, though, for people looking to buy a home in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Condo Boom Cooled by Manhattan-Like Rents [Bloomberg]