New York is the most resilient real estate market in the world. The reason is simple: Everyone wants be here. A pro-development mayor and administration doesn’t hurt. Neither do 1,000 of the most hungry real estate agents in the industry working hard to complete big deals. Still, if real estate is about “location, location, location,” then New York City - its five boroughs and surrounding areas - has got it.
QUEENS OUTLOOK: New Yorkers with family on their mind look to Queens to start their homeowning experience. The borough with the most green space and strong sense of community continues to hold steady as a safe place to live and put your real estate dollar. Glendale, Middle Village, Ridgewood and Woodside have good public schools, leafy streets and ethnic retail stretches where a gallon of milk is more than $1.50 less than in Tribeca. Other strong areas such as Astoria, Long Island City, Forest Hills, Long Island City and Rego Park have become top residential enclaves for young singles and families looking for the proximity to Manhattan and strong transportation. By the end of 2013, Queens should be as popular a place as Brooklyn was five years ago.
SALES: The good news in Queens is home prices are down slightly but the number of transactions is up. That means the borough is becoming more desirable. The average cost of a home is now $391,000.
“People in Queens want space for their growing families,” says Harold Valestin, a senior vice president with MNS, a leading new condominium and resale group with strong representation in Brooklyn and Queens. “If it’s priced right and near transportation to Manhattan, it sells quickly.”
Currently, Valentin has a development in Astoria on 30th St., where all homes with Manhattan skyline views sold quickly. Strong co-op and single family homes sales come from Rego Park. Garden homes in Sunnyside are holding strong, with recent sales reaching $925,000 for a two-family brick house with English gardens as a backyard.
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