Home Sales in Queens Take a Dip in 2011, But Prices Keep Up

The number of homes sold in Queens decreased slightly in 2011 with 9,128 properties changing hands, our latest analysis shows. The Y-o-Y decrease is 11%, while compared to 2006 (when the number of transactions reached a 7-year peak), the decrease is 39%.

At $305,000, the yearly median sale price has stayed flat for a third consecutive year. The median sale price in Q4 2011 was $300,000, a 5% decrease over Q3 2011 and a 6% decrease over Q4 2010. The zip code with the highest median sale price in 2011 was 11109 ($694,000), comprising 3 neighborhoods: Hunters Point, Sunnyside and West Maspeth. Here are some interesting properties that exchanged hands:

131 Beach 139th Street
The most expensive residential property sold in Queens in 2011 was the single-family home at 131 Beach 139th Street. The beautiful oceanfront residence first hit the market on May 2nd, 2010 with an asking price of $5,379,000. More than a year and several price chops later, it finally sold for $3,200,000 on September 27th. The current seller had previously put down $3,400,000 for it on September 7th, 2006.

5 Center Drive
The second biggest transaction in Queens in 2011 was the single-family home at 5 Center Drive, Whitestone. The custom-built, brick colonial house first hit the market on July 24th, 2010 with an asking price of $3,250,000. It sold on April 29th, 2011 for $2,625,000.

The most expensive condo sold was the #PH9 penthouse at 46-30 Center Boulevard. Located in Long Island City’s building “The View” (which was covered by Curbed on many different occasions), the penthouse sold for $1,660,000 on November 22nd.

Finally, here’s the complete top 10 of the biggest Queens real estate residential transactions in 2011: