Risky Business in Some Brooklyn Nabes?
This week New York magazine looks into its real estate crystal ball and sees all sorts of doom ‘n’ gloom on the horizon for Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and, to a lesser extent, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Of all the neighborhoods profiled in the mag’s Neighborhood Watch feature, in fact, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick are pegged the riskiest. (They…
This week New York magazine looks into its real estate crystal ball and sees all sorts of doom ‘n’ gloom on the horizon for Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and, to a lesser extent, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Of all the neighborhoods profiled in the mag’s Neighborhood Watch feature, in fact, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick are pegged the riskiest. (They receive a collective risk rating of 9 out of a possible 10.) According to the article, since the two areas are subprime hotbeds, there’s a good chance inventory is going to be flooding their markets–an assessment that jibes with the downturn in sales Bed-Stuy recently posted. In Williamsburg and Greenpoint, meanwhile, the supply of new construction may be outstripping demand. One local broker says Burg prices have sunk by about 10 percent lately. The article also makes the case that properties in Greenpoint, and areas of Williamsburg not within a stone’s throw of the Bedford L, are going to be less of a hot ticket as “creative types” find exotic mortgages harder to come by. These factors combine for a risk score of 7. (The rating for “established brownstone Brooklyn” is, unsurprisingly, a much rosier 2.5, based on the fact that areas like Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope attract affluent, stable buyers.) While Bed-Stuy and Bushwick are undoubtedly feeling more subprime fallout than other neighborhoods, it seems a little premature to predict that demand and prices in Williamsburg are about to take a serious nosedive. You agree with the pessimistic prognostications?
Neighborhood Watch [New York]
Big Slowdown Seen in Brooklyn’s Poorest Zones [Brownstoner]
Photo of Bed-Stuy houses by GKJarvis.
You’re more likely to get knifed or stabbed on the north side of Lincoln, whereas you’re more likely to be shot on the south side.
“The golden rule of real estate = last up, first down. It’s not personal.”
Yessir. And I love how that also means ‘NOT last down’. So the converse is true, ‘first up, last down’ (inevitably). It’s not just a boom. It’s a boomerang.
the hipster “pioneer” would apply to people who moved into places such as soho, tribeca and areas which had little population and are now expensive as a mofo.
12:06 here… Of course there are a lot of poor people in Bed-Stuy, and yes I believe they represent the majority. But what many people don’t realize is that there is also a solid core of long term middle class residents (at least in my area, Stuy-Heights and around) that have always provided stability to the area, even in the worst days of the 80s. Many people on this board describe Bed-Stuy as a clash between a poor uneducated black majority, and a small minority of wealthy and educated white new residents. That is an oversimplification, Bed-Stuy is more diverse than than, in terms of socioeconomic and ethnic groups.
who cares about the word “pioneering”
the gentrification of williamsburg started with artists anyway, not hipsters.
anyway, anyone who thinks that in there will be a condo glut, is just simply wrong. NYC has a housing shortage and as stated above, many families are not leaving the city to go to the suburbs.
if prices fall or some condos go rental, it will be a short term – 2 years? – problem.
NYC needs housing….
“The recent uptick in crime in both Bed Stuy and Clinton Hill are ruffling more than a few feathers, from what I’ve heard from friends living there…”
Yup. Million plus dollar homes and ‘ghetto birds’ just don’t go together. I didn’t hear the shots but I live right around the corner and was disturbed by the NYPD chopper hovering around my head.
i’m getting so sick and tired of people pitting neighborhoods against one another on this site. if bed stuy sucks, then why are so many people i know buying or looking to buy around here, western bed stuy (bedford/nostrand g area)? i’ll tell you why…LONG TERM. our block has improved radically in the last year, and once atlantic yards goes up….forgetaboutit!!!!!!! ny magazine is a joke, written by 20something writers who have no idea…
Just an observation:
There’s a real difference in Bed Stuy between the houses that are falling into foreclosure and those which aren’t.
Foreclosure houses (in any neighborhood) are generally in extremely poor repair due to the insovency of the owners, whereas those who can afford their homes (many in Bed Stuy own them outright or are paying a miniscule mortgage) generally are taking good care of the houses.
So if you’re able to afford your house, don’t worry. Prices in Bed Stuy are NOT going to drop as low as they were 5-10 years ago, so relax.
Besides, NY Mag isn’t exactly an authority on this sort of thing (they are NOTORIOUSLY behind the curve). Gotta wonder if the editors there live in Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Upper East, etc.
Kinda makes ya think, huh?
Ok, I take back “Pioneer”
Not sure the best word to describe it, but you all get my point.
How about…they aided in the rebirth of some once neglected neighborhoods…?