Market Predictions for 2006: Neighborhood Picks
In what is now becoming an annual tradition, we invite you to share your thoughts and predictions for the Brooklyn housing market in 2006. Like last year, we’re particularly curious to hear your neighborhood “longs” and “shorts”. On a risk-adjusted basis, we’re most bullish on Prospect Heights and Carroll Gardens and, relatively speaking, would bet…
In what is now becoming an annual tradition, we invite you to share your thoughts and predictions for the Brooklyn housing market in 2006. Like last year, we’re particularly curious to hear your neighborhood “longs” and “shorts”. On a risk-adjusted basis, we’re most bullish on Prospect Heights and Carroll Gardens and, relatively speaking, would bet against Williamsburg. Overall, though, we don’t think 2006 will look at all like 2005, which was marked by huge surges in prices in some rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. From where we sit, 2006 is looking like a year for the market to take a breath and digest all the rapid-fire changes that have occurred in recent years. Barring a big move upward in rates, we think prices will more-or-less move sideways. In our own little corner of Brooklyn, the big test will be whether the upscaling of Fulton Street can extend beyond Fort Greene. Man, could we use a gourmet market in Clinton Hill! Anyway, that’s how we see it. But what do we know. We’d rather hear from you.
Happy New Year.
Brownstoner
to all other brownstoners i apologize for continuing this dialog and i promise not to post on this subject anymore.
I can’t help myself, i have to ask PC police a question. If i’m such an italian racist how come i chose to buy a house where my neighbors on both sides are guess what? italian, from Italy no less. its good to know “all your friends are different races,ethnicities and religions……hello you live in new york. I grew up as the only jewish kid on a true nyc block in the Bronx not in Ohio like you probably did. the truth is your condescending tone makes me want to puke. right we chose where we live because crime , asthetics, distance and cost(and of course living nowhere near you). you left out race however. what do you suppose do all the posters who say fringe neighborhood mean when they talk of bed stuy and crown height etc. do you think those fringe people are well to do white folk? You are the type of person who moves in when a neighborhood gentrifies but the first to “white flight” if the neighborhood changes. Your the poster boy/girl for what the right wing call liberals. Your the person they use when they talk about liberals are stealing christmas. your the “cultural elitist ” and people like myself and others on the left suffer for it every day. Now i had enough. .
I own limestone townhouses in Sunset Park and Lefferts Manor. Both areas have fine housing stock combined with good transportation and mediocre services. PLG is probably 10 minutes closer to Manhattan by subway. Both have a few great blocks, many ok blocks, and many not-so-hot blocks. Price-wise SP seems to have more room to grow as it is still lower than PLG for the average house. PLG, especially LM has much nicer houses at the high end. SP’s best houses are just great examples of its good houses, there is a lot (too much) uniformity. This will keep SP’s prices in a tight range.
I believe SP will stay flat or rise a few percent next year and PLG will will stay flat or fall a few percent. Nothing too exciting.
lucas, my personal 2 cents. Do not make this call on the basis of which neighborhood is the “smart” purchase. Though it’s easy to think otherwise from reading threads like these, you are not buying a stock. you’re buying a home. Say you could make a pile of money by buying in a neighborhood you hated and selling in 5 years. would it be worth the 5 years of misery?
you will get more space in flatbush, and it’s your personal decision whether the tradeoffs are worth it to you. but do not buy on the basis of which is the better-priced nabe. both have shot up in price in the past few years. buy where you think you’ll be happiest living.
it sounds from your post like you’ve been sitting on cash waiting for prices to come down — watching your dollars lose purchasing power all the time. that’s a perfect example of why homebuyers should not try to time the market. if you’re planning on staying for the long-term, all this stockpicking BS should not matter to you. if you’re not, you probably should not buy. otherwise, go with your gut and buy the place you like best.
Anonymous at 9:09 – you might be thinking of Bill O’Really rather than Lucas. The name comes below the post.
Lucas are you drunk?
There still are deals in the coop market in Park Slope. Kensington (Ocean Parkway area) seems to have the best deals for coops.
Actually, if prices just remain flat (aither at or slightly below 0% gain annually) you are experiencing an unrealized or paper loss because inflation will start to eat away at your “gains”.
The market is getting much much softer, with more inventory and a longer sales cycle. This will, along with higher interest rates and an affordability index that is way out of wack, engender a housing market that is heading for the tankaroo.
Magic’s johnson will do fine with the Billyburg building.
Ratner will give Marty Arbuckle some season tix (now that election season is over) to curry favor.
Now that some Florida cemetaries are considering converting their greens to more functional (and profitable) plots, maybe Greenwood cemetary could do the opposite. FORE!
As for gentrification in some sh*thole nabes,…is it just the blight or are some folks just attracted to the pioneer lifestyle. Sunset Park is great if you speak spanish or chinese.
Red Hook still sucks (you won’t get any new service their, but you will get the business), and the Ikea sh*tstorm (read: traffic) hasn’t even begun to rear its head yet.
Oh, and to all of the folks doing reno on the sly (other than having a dumpster out in front of your home), you better watch out!! First, the Sanitation dept is looking for extra revenue and the DoB is hiring more inspectors…”well lookie here, a dumpster. Let’s see if there’s a permit in the window for all of the reno (follow the dust trail to the doorstep) happening here. Hmmm, let me just leave this little note (also known as a summons) for ya.”
City Gov’t can be just as big a bitch as W. spying on who you’re talking to…like all of those leftie blogs.
My spouse and I are looking to buy our first home. We have lived in Park Slope for 7+ years and love the area but are concerned that we could get more space and make a smarter purchase elsewhere in Brooklyn. We love the Victorian Flatbush area–but can real value still be found there or is it already too played out? Would it be stupid to buy a two or three bedroom co-op in Park Slope now? We are sick of renting and waiting for the market to come down, we know we like the area…thoughts?