With rising prices throughout Manhattan, property in Brooklyn is becoming an increasingly popular alternative with cash-strapped property hunters, according to joint research produced by appraisal firm Prudential Douglas Elliman and realtor Miller Samuel Inc.
Sales in the previously maligned area were up 18.1% in the third quarter year-on-year, with the median price edging up 5% to $510,000.
New York overtook London this month as the No. 1 destination for real-estate investment for the first time since 2007, and the increased interest from wealthy foreign buyers is pushing prices up to unmanageable levels.
Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Miller Samuel, said that foreign buyers were therefore attracted by Brooklyn being a cheaper alternative to fashionable Manhattan.
“I think the key reason is the rising rental market in Manhattan,” he said. “Brooklyn is an alternative, and it's a lower price point than Manhattan and it explains why we have this jump in purchase activity.”
“Where I see a lot of the kick is on the condo side. I look at the market as gaining firmer footing, and continuing to improve gradually,” he added.