Topics: We Weren't Kidding About Condos

We barely cover condos. But when we told you that it's hard to find a decent 2BR around $700K in the best parts of Brooklyn, we weren't kidding. Whether it's one of the best condo values in Williamsburg in the past few months, a mediocre renovation just across 4th Avenue from North Slope, a more modern place with multiple decks just in from 4th Avenue in Park Slope, or a small renovation in Boerum Hill that barely lasted a month on the market - it's slim pickens around that price range. Now StreetEasy is out with a 6 month report that captures the data pretty effectively. Granted, it only covers properties on their site, but they've got most of the major brokers and many of the smaller ones for condos, so the numbers are comprehensive enough to break down. And the story is a familiar one:


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While European debt fears had the stock market falling off the cliff for a few months starting in July & August of 2011, condos were taking off in a bullish direction. The number of price increases is up 57% in 6 months, 130% year over year. Likewise, the number of price cuts is down 29% in 6 months, 49% year over year. Supply is down even though new listings are up because contracts are up and any new product is being absorbed faster. And it's no coincidence that our readers can barely find a decent $700K 2BR, because that's now the median listing price among all Brooklyn condos (including studios and 1BR's). In Park Slope, the median listing price is an even-steeper $829K, up 12% since August 2011. And Williamsburg saw a more drastic 30% uptick in pricing over that 6 month period. In Williamsburg, the $897K median list price for condos is higher than Park Slope, even with 5 times the inventory, and a price per square foot that's closer to a Brooklyn Heights townhouse at almost $1,000/sqft. Good news for whoever locked up 37 Orient Avenue before it was too late, and bad news for anyone who thought prices there were coming down.

Again, we barely cover condos, but these numbers might serve as a little food for thought for those fretting over the price per square foot for townhouses in these same neighborhoods. The median list price was $700K in Williamsburg, back in August when Apple was trading below $400. Like Apple, this Brooklyn real estate story runs deeper than the Dow, the Euro, and the global equity markets - and has decoupled accordingly:



So with the median list price up 30% over 6 months, and Apple up 60% over the same time, searching for a condo (or townhouse) at last season's pricing is like putting a limit order in for some Apple stock at, say, 500 or less... a great price, if you can get it.