[URBAN NOTE] "Queens Condos Set Record as Manhattan Buyers Priced Out"

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg's Oshrat Carmiel reports on soaring condo prices in New York City's Queens.

Condominium prices in New York’s Queens jumped to a record in the second quarter as soaring values in Manhattan sent buyers fanning out across the city’s boroughs in search of properties they could afford.

The average price of a Queens condo sold was $575,339, up 20 percent from a year earlier, according to a report Thursday from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. In Long Island City, a neighborhood just across the East River from Manhattan better known for its rental towers, the average price rose 28 percent to $1.06 million.

Demand to own homes in the outer boroughs is climbing as Manhattan apartments reach their own new highs, further shutting out cost-sensitive buyers. In Brooklyn, the average sales price climbed 0.7 percent to a record $788,529 in the second quarter, extending a surge in values amid the area’s growing appeal as a hip place to live.

“This is the search for affordability,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel and a Bloomberg View contributor. “Queens is benefiting from Brooklyn’s success, Brooklyn is benefiting from Manhattan’s success. Next is the Bronx.”

The average sales price of all homes in Queens climbed 9.1 percent from a year earlier to $452,304, while the number of transactions increased 5.6 percent to 2,539. In Brooklyn, sales fell 17 percent from a year earlier to 1,735 properties, hampered by inventory below historical averages.