Harlem Is Becoming As Expensive As the Rest of Manhattan

[Be prepared for bidding wars in Harlem; photo via the Curbed Flickr Pool / mtkr]

StreetEasy's Market Report for July is out now, and while some of the data within isn't too surprising—resale prices for Manhattan and Brooklyn hit record highs, as did rents—there are some interesting (and possibly depressing) tidbits. Namely: Resale prices in Upper Manhattan (covering north-of-110th-Street neighborhoods like Harlem, Inwood, and Hamilton Heights) are on the rise, with an 11.9 percent increase from this time last year. Even though the median resale price there is lower than the rest of the borough, at $565,690, it's a significant jump from the same period last year. In a press release, Alan Lightfeldt, StreetEasy's data scientist, said "With homebuyers being priced out of not only Manhattan but many Brooklyn neighborhoods as well, these northern neighborhoods are attractive now more than ever.…Upper Manhattan is a new battleground for bidding wars." Yikes.

· Rents in Manhattan and Brooklyn rose ever-so-slightly: Respectively, the median rent for each borough went up three percent (to $3,400) and four percent (to $2,600).
· The most expensive neighborhood for rentals: Central Park South (the tiny sliver directly below the park), with a median asking rent of—drumroll, please—$7,850.
· Even though the median resale prices in Manhattan and Brooklyn are at all-time highs, growth in those boroughs is actually slowing down.
· Manhattan inventory is down, but Brooklyn inventory is up, by about six percent from this time last year.
· In Manhattan, the most expensive area is "Downtown" (encompassing the Financial District, Battery Park City, and the Lower East Side, among others), with a $1.1 million median resale price; in Brooklyn, it's "North Brooklyn" (where Williamsburg is located), with a median resale price of $868,390.

TL;DR, resale prices and rents are rising, and once-affordable neighborhoods may soon become as expensive as the rest of the city, same as it ever was.
· July 2015 Market Update: Manhattan and Brooklyn Home Prices Hot, But Not Smoldering [StreetEasy]
· All Market Reports Coverage [Curbed]