REBNY 2Q Report: Improving Economy Drives Residential Sales in the Boroughs
With growing confidence in the improving economy, residential sales activity and prices in the boroughs saw significant gains in the second quarter of 2014, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Second Quarter New York City Residential Sales Report, New York City’s only five-borough report released today.
Average sales prices for one-to-three family homes in Brooklyn surged 21 percent, while sales volume increased 18 percent from last year. Similarly, prices for one-to-three family homes in Queens climbed six percent, while sales volume increased by nine percent. Sales of one-to-three family homes in the Bronx also outpaced the volume seen in the second quarter of last year with a 14-percent-increase and an average sales price increase of about one percent.
“The increasing confidence of single family homebuyers in the economy, the affordability of houses, and the continuing desirability of the boroughs as places to live and raise a family have had an impact on the growth of residential sales activity throughout the City,” said Steven Spinola, President of REBNY. “The majority of housing in Brooklyn and Queens is in one-to-three family homes. The large jump in the average sales price and volume for these properties is a strong, positive sign for the City’s economy. In addition, the mortgage recording tax and transfer tax revenue from these sales will help pay for the services that are so essential for the vitality of these communities.”
Other notable gains this quarter, as compared to the second quarter of 2013, included: the 19-percent-increase in the average sales price for all homes in Brooklyn to $715,000; the 15-percent-boost in coop sales in Queens; and the 13-percent-increase in the average sales price for a coop in New York City to $768,000. The residential market in Manhattan also remained strong with the average sales price for all homes increasing by six percent to $1,491,000 year-over-year.
The total number of homes sold (cooperatives, condominiums, and one-to-three-family dwellings) during the second quarter was 10,722, a two-percent-increase from last year. The six-percent-increase in the average sales price for all homes in New York City to $826,000 was driven by price increases in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The total consideration for all residential sales in New York City during the second quarter of 2014 was $8.9 billion, an increase of six percent from last year. Total consideration for Manhattan increased 8.3 percent year-over-year to $4.9 billion. In Brooklyn, the total consideration was $1.9 billion, an increase of 13.5 percent from last year.
REBNY’s Second Quarter 2014 Residential Sales by Neighborhood:
■Manhattan neighborhoods with the most home sales this quarter were: the Upper East Side (716 sales), the Upper West Side (576), Midtown East (260), Gramercy/Kips Bay (222), Midtown West (220), and Chelsea/Flatiron (215).
■Brooklyn residential home sales activity was focused in: Bedford Stuyvesant (211), Bay Ridge/Fort Hamilton (146), Park Slope (137), Gravesend/Mapleton (124), Bushwick/Wyckoff Heights (119), Sheepshead Bay (117), and Williamsburg (117).
■Queens neighborhoods with the most home sales were: Rego Park/Forest Hills/Kew Gardens (361), Flushing (331), Jackson Heights/Elmhurst (272) and Richmond Hill/South Ozone Park/Woodhaven (255).
■Bronx neighborhoods with most residential home sales this quarter were: Riverdale/Fieldston (116), Parkchester/Westchester Square/Castle Hill/Soundview (97 sales), City Island/Pelham Bay/Pelham Strip/Country Club/Throgs Neck/Schuylerville (87), and Woodlawn/Williamsbridge (76).
REBNY’s report is the most comprehensive quarterly review of recorded transactions and includes data from all five boroughs.
