New Brooklyn real estate report shows strong gains in sales

'The most active 4th quarter in the history of Brooklyn'

January 13, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Here's The Cobble Hill House, a 27-unit condo building constructed in 2018 by Vega Management. Eagle file photo by Lore Croghan

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The last quarter of 2021 showed that Brooklyn had what one specialist called ” the most active 4th quarter in the history of Brooklyn.” Greg Heym, chief economist for Brown Harris Stevens and a former chief economist for the Real Estate Board of New York, praised Brooklyn’s “continuing powerful growth and sustainability,” particularly in sales and closings of condos and co-ops.

The Fourth Quarter Report for Residential Real Estate from Brown Harris Stevens, which describes itself as a “luxury real estate firm providing full-service residential management,” says, “While the average apartment price in Brooklyn ticked down from the record level of the third quarter, it remained 11% higher than a year ago. This was due in part to a rise in high-end closings, as the median price was just 1% above the fourth quarter of 2020.”

A busy new development market, the report added, helped bring condo prices higher over the past year in most of the markets in our report. “Co-op prices posted smaller gains, and even fell in a few areas,” it said. The report did not address rentals.

In particular, according to the report:

Brooklyn as a whole saw 35% more sales than one year ago.
There was a record high number of signed contracts in last six months of 2021, compared to any other second half.
The overall average apartment price, as mentioned above, was 11% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2020
The Park Slope/South Slope/Windsor Terrace average price was 18% higher than the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Williamsburg/Greenpoint average price was 20% higher than the fourth quarter of 2020.
In the Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights/Sunset Park areas, strong new development activity pushed the average condo price per square foot up 17% higher than a year ago.

The report also broke down figures by neighborhoods. Here are five sample areas:

In Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and DUMBO, the median apartment price per room was 7 percent higher than a year ago, while co-op prices in particular averaged $259,793 per room — 9 percent more than the fourth quarter of 2020.

In Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and the South Slope, both condos and co-ops posted price increases over the past year. At $1,291,512, the average apartment price was 18 percent over the fourth quarter of 2020’s level.

In Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Prospect Heights and Vinegar Hill, the average condo price per square foot rose 13 percent from a year ago to $1,243. Co-op prices averaged $225,030 per room, 7 percent more than the fourth quarter of 2020.

Other areas covered in the report stretched from Prospect-Lefferts Gardens to Brownsville and East New York, from Downtown Brooklyn to Bay Ridge and Sunset Park to Sheepshead Bay.