« Look Before You Leap: HUD Fire Sale (Literally) Not For The Atkins Devotees Among Us »

February 6, 2006

Corcoran: Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill Tops in 2005

map We finally got a chance to read the year-end Corcoran report. Not surprisingly, the ~~runaway~~ winners for 2005 were Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, which the brokerage lumps into one category (with good reason):

As the popularity of the districts has grown over the past few years, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have ridden a wave of price increases in all categories. In 2005, three-bedroom apartments overall stole the show, with average sale prices catapulted upward by +38%. Studio and one-bedroom apartments gained +25% and +32% respectively. The multi-family townhouse arena proved equally exhilarating, with increases of +28%.

We don't put too much stock in these numbers given the relatively small sample size, but they probably have some use in identifying larger trends. More outtakes to come throughout the week.
Year End Report 2005 [Corcoran]

Comments

This is on their website. I'm not sure I would call Ft Greene/Clinton Hill the runaway winner. Cobble Hills co-ops had a higher % increase. Brooklyn Heights had really high % increase in townhouse sales. The whole Brooklyn brownstone market looked strong. Not sure I'd single out a runaway winner.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 11:30 AM

Brownstoner is pimping his 'hood as much as ljbukem is trying to pimp the development he is buying in....

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 11:33 AM

Fair 'nuff. Our Clinton Hill bias may have gotten the best of us!

Posted by: Brownstoner at February 6, 2006 11:33 AM

www.thewashingtoncondo.com

GO BUY IT

Posted by: ltjbukem at February 6, 2006 11:38 AM

see - this proves my point ;-)

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 11:52 AM

Ooh, didn't notice that Brooklyn Heights townhouse number first time through. Pretty huge! What do you reckon the sample size on that was???

Posted by: Brownstoner at February 6, 2006 12:00 PM

did you see the Park Slope number? everything is illuminated....

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 12:01 PM

Yeah none of this is surprising. These areas have for all intents and purposes \"arrived\", I think. In fact, a neighborhood\'s being discussed on the Corcoran year end report may itself be the criterion for \"arrival\". More interesting, at least to me, is what\'s happening in nabes like Ditmas Park and Bay Ridge. I\'ve just about decided to buy in Ditmas.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 1:02 PM

I' msurprised Bed-Stuy didn't shoot up more. Anecotally it seems to have had a big percentage increase lately. (Look at the flips cited here, e.g.) Maybe also a sample size issue.

I suspect Ditmas will also have had a bigger % jump than the "established" anbes in the Corc report.

Posted by: linusvanpelt at February 6, 2006 1:40 PM

Would have thought the same thing about Bed Stuy

Posted by: Brownstoner at February 6, 2006 1:47 PM

I lived in Ft Greene in the 80's when there was NOTHING there as far as shops and restaurants. Moved to Park Slope and now I've just left for Bed Stuy. Now that I'm spending alot of time in Ft Greene (because there's not much in Bed Stuy), I've come to realize that it is the perfect neighborhood. Check it out: close to the city, beautiful architecture, diverse community and great neighborhood businesses. I have a feeling I'm not the only one who realizes this, which is why prices have shot up.

Posted by: anon at February 6, 2006 1:50 PM

I heart fort greene & am happy to see it thriving.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 2:11 PM

Agreed. Fort Greene is awesome. I know everyone has their faves, but it a great neighborhood with amenities and architecture. And, everyone doesnt look the same, like in the Heights!

Posted by: Marla at February 6, 2006 2:13 PM

Ditmas has had about a 30% jump in the last 12 months. I think it's a bit less than the real jumps in other neighborhoods. Corcoran's sample size is too small in most neighborhoods to be able to make real comparisons. Clearly, however, there's been an increase in the last 12 months (in every neighborhood) and, based on asking prices, the increases will continue into 2006, at least until the impeachment hearings over the NSA issue begin.

Posted by: PPSer at February 6, 2006 2:37 PM

Honestly, that's why I love Fort Greene and don't love Park Slope as much as I did ten years ago. Park Slope has lost most of its diversity. I prefer to live in a mixed neighborhood and I feel I get more of that in Fort Greene. The shopping has been coming along nicely, although I long for the day when Fulton Street has the variety of Shops that 5th Avenue does. But then look at 5th Avenue five years ago and look at it now.

Posted by: Shahn Andersen at February 6, 2006 3:19 PM

Give it another few years of gentrification. We will see how diverse it is then.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 4:16 PM

Funny about the diversity bit. I was just mugged by two African Americans on 14th Street and 6th Avenue in the Slope. The neighborhood seems as diverse as ever.

Posted by: Eryximachus at February 6, 2006 4:34 PM

Diversity would be being mugged by one African American and one Caucasion....

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 4:42 PM

it will be interesting to see what corcoran's report looks like year over year in 2006. Declines potentially and which nabes get hit hardest? I know its a can of worms, but hey, I think everyone agrees the market is not anywhere near what 2005 gave us given price declines, open house viewings, etc. Spring should be interesting if bernanke keeps the hikes going and the 10 year actually moves on it.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 5:36 PM

A lot of Clinton Hill and Fort Greene have already been gentrified. The difference so far is that black folks are staying. Sure some converted SRO's and rentals have changed hands but in the last three years while prices have skyrocketed there has not been a net loss of black people living in the neighborhood.

Eryximachus, you are saying that Park Slope is still ethnically diverse because you were mugged by two black guys? People get mugged in every neighborhood in this city. Not that it would have helped in your case, but maybe you shouldn't fly that KKK flag of yours so high outside of Mill Basin.

Posted by: Meryckawick at February 6, 2006 5:52 PM

Just when I keep thinking Ditmas Park is hitting its ceiling, something comes along to suprise me - in this instance teh $1.9 price tag for a massive, newly renovated house that was engulfed by a fire several years ago. It's with Brooklyn Properties. I've been inside, if anyone's interested. Not for the strictly purist among us, but could be perfect for a family that wants a pretty house and no work. And no, I am not a broker.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 6:09 PM

Meryckawick,

Curious, as a non-FG-er: do you mean that the black people who were living in the neighborhood were able to stay? If so, why? Because they already owned their homes, in greater numbers than elsewhere in the city?

Or did upper-middle-class black people move in and lower-middle-class black people move out -- i.e., keeping racial diversity but losing economic diversity?

Posted by: linusvanpelt at February 6, 2006 9:04 PM

I am no psychic, but something tells me that Ditmas Park has not yet come close to the ceiling. I am always fascinated when I drive around there. The Victorians are so beautiful and several huge ones are currently undergoing renovations, obviously being fixed up. I like that neck of the woods.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 9:42 PM

Park Slope is not really diverse. Sure, you see black people there, but do they live there? Unlikely. If they do live there, do they own? Even more unlikely. Park Slope is lily white, whether we like to admit it or not.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 9:46 PM

I've lived in CH/FG for almost 20 years and here are the 2 reasons, I think, it's kept a more diverse profile (totally my observation, not scientific!): 1) lots of middle-class and working-class black folks did own their homes before the RE craziness and a lot of those homes have stayed in the families, and 2) because of #1, more upwardly mobile black folks have been attracted to these nabes, drawn to the idea of diversity, keeping the racial diversity (but flattening out the economic diversity, for sure).

Posted by: kcf at February 6, 2006 10:50 PM

Posted by: Anonymous at February 6, 2006 10:50 PM

I agree with kcf - it's not an economic diversity, but indeed an ethnic and racial one skewed to the middle, and now upper echelons. As a black woman, I always find it amusing ( and a bit painful) when people assume the only black people are ones who "stayed" by holding onto real estate, rather than that, just like white "interlopers" or gentrifiers, there ARE black people who have made money and can gentrify just as well as the rest of you. funny, sort of.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2006 9:16 AM

The reason I feel like DP must should be hitting its ceiling is because I follow the market there very closely. I live in the neighborhood and have been contemplating moving to a larger house in the neighborhood (7 beds instead of 5. I know that sounds ridiculous to most Brooklynites, but if you live in DP you understand. You get used to the space very quickly and I have several children. Anyway, I have not seen homes in unlandmarked neighborhoods exceed asking prices of a little over the million mark (lots of them start out asking 1.1 and come down), and larger homes in landmarked neighborhoods with higher asking prices seem to sit on the market for ages. These seem to be selling pretty steadily between 1.2 and 1.4, with the odd exception, although asking prices have been much higher. Mary Kay Gallagher had a mystery house on her site (call only, no pix - I don't care for that policy at all, by the way), which had an asking price of like 1.4, but she was saying on the site to be prepared to go to the $2 milllion mark. I figured out which house this is based on the description (PPS, corner of Buckingham and Albemarle). A gorgeous house but needs TLC and most importantly, situated about 6 feet from the railroad cut.... Anyway it came off the market pretty quickly and was not sold, so that litmus test of the 2 million mark was never really tested. The house on Albemarle asking $4 for over a year (this is crazy) needs hundreds of thousands of dollars of work and some of the "restoration" work is pretty shoddy in the front entry hall... Anyway, I'll be interested to know when a perfectly preserved architectural grand dame goes for the 2 million price tag that obviously DP is reaching for.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2006 9:32 AM

I said, "there has not been a net loss of black people living in the neighborhood", meaning that while some people have had to move when their buildings were sold, etc. people moved in to take their places. Yes, black folks have been gentrifying too. I'm personally familiar with five such transactions that have happened in the past two years.

Posted by: Meryckawick at February 7, 2006 9:55 AM

Wow, some of you have FINALLY discovered the fact that not all black people are poor, on welfare, live in section 8 housing, or the projects, or roam the streets looking for white people to mug. Some of us went to college, grad school even, have great jobs, make good money, and want the same things everyone else wants, including living in nice brownstone neighborhoods. What a revelation!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2006 11:24 AM

i think that's what anon 9:16 was saying...

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2006 6:27 PM

Check out this text from NY1 today (the 7th); 80% for Fort Greene sounds a little bizarre....

A new report suggests prices in many neighborhoods in Brooklyn are skyrocketing.

The Real Estate Board of New York released its first-ever Residential Sales Report Tuesday on 2005 real estate prices in the borough showing the average price of an apartment in Brooklyn is up 35 percent from 2004.

The real estate report compiled numbers from several brokerage firms.

“The question is, ‘What's hot?’ Well, you probably have to say all of Brooklyn is hot, basically,” said Real Estate Board of New York President Steven Spinola.

According to the report, DUMBO is the priciest neighborhood to buy an apartment, with the average place selling at $1.2 million.

Brooklyn Heights also continues to be popular. A huge demand for one and two-family homes makes it the most expensive neighborhood to buy a one or two-family home in the borough. The average price could run upwards of $2.7 million.

But the neighborhood which saw the biggest jump in price was Fort Greene, where prices of apartments and one and two-family homes jumped more than 80 percent from 2004 to 2005.

“It's a clear indication that the activity, I think, for 2006 is one that's going to be positive,” said Spinola.

While the report is made for brokers and agents, Spinola says its impact will trickle down to you, the home buyer, in the form of better, more accurate information, like whether you can even afford to think about buying in Brooklyn.

“It gives them a better understanding of what the true value of a home is that they might be interested in,” said Spinola.

The Real Estate Board says this is proof that people have made a commitment to the city and the borough since 9/11.

“That is showing throughout the five boroughs, and it is clearly showing in the borough of Brooklyn,” said Spinola.

The board will be analyzing the data for each quarter throughout 2006, and will issue another Brooklyn report next year.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2006 10:10 PM

Re anon 6:27's response to my anon 11:24 remark. I know that's what she said, I just find it amazing that she had to say it. We still end up having to explain the obvious. We haven't quite overcome yet.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 7, 2006 11:57 PM

FG/CH's vaunted "diversity" has existed for a lot longer than some may be aware; there are also plenty of longterm white,hispanic and asian residents in FG/CH who can stay only because they've owned for a long time. Count me among them - I've owned since the mid 80s when I fled from the landlord from hell, and there's no way I could buy in today's market. I guess that makes me part of the diversity.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 8, 2006 8:56 AM

« Look Before You Leap: HUD Fire Sale (Literally) Not For The Atkins Devotees Among Us »

February 6, 2006

Corcoran: Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill Tops in 2005

Comments

Post a comment

Get Brownstoner on your Mobile Phone

Latest Restaurant Additions