Midway through the summer, New York City has outdone itself once again. Unsurprisingly, the real estate market has seen more growth this quarter than ever before, with sale numbers reaching unprecedented heights. The median sales price for a home in New York City has jumped 7.3 percent this quarter to $1,189,011. Rising 7.9 percent, the average price for the city is now sitting at $2,189,037. The Halstead Property Development Marketing team conducted a quarterly report in which they concluded that the rise in cost can be attributed to high sales in new buildings such as 15 Central Park West, One57, and the Time Warner Center.
Brooklyn, once seen as an affordable alternative to Manhattan, is suffering rising prices as well, with the median cost of a home increasing 21 percent to $795,000. Like Manhattan, the rising prices can be contributed to closings on luxury buildings earlier this quarter at 550 Vanderbilt, 500 Waverly, and 200 Water Street.
With these new statistics, city residents may be wondering why anyone would choose to buy in this market. StreetEasy has been thinking the same thing and released a new report analyzing what they are calling the “tipping point” – “the point in time in which the benefits of owning a home exceed the benefits of renting that same home”. According to the report, it takes 5.6 years of renting in New York City to reach the point where it makes financial sense to buy the home. Unsurprisingly, out of all the boroughs, Manhattan has the highest tipping point of 7.7 years, followed by Brooklyn at 4.9 years, Queens at 2.7 years, and The Bronx coming in fourth at 1.4 years. While buying is not an option for everyone, calculating the long term value of your home is essential before signing your name to a new housing agreement.