Once dubbed the “Park Avenue of the Middle Class”, the Bronx’s Grand Concourse has become something of a phenomenon ever since the thoroughfare opened in 1909. Fast-forward 110 years, and the desire to live here has become greater than ever. The elevated housing demand in the neighborhoods around the boulevard pushed the median home sale price to increase 68% in just 5 years—from 2014 to 2018.
Resembling Paris’ own Champs Élysées due to its grand scale, Art Deco buildings and contemporary architecture “The Grand Concourse is like Paris, but with a subway line straight to Midtown,” according to PropertyShark Founder Matthew Haines. But the boulevard is so much more than just a gateway from the Bronx to Manhattan and a comparison to the Parisian street. The Concourse is brimming with years of NYC history, culture, art and life, and is finally getting the attention it always deserved.
More and more people priced out of the other boroughs are moving to the Bronx and choosing neighborhoods along the Grand Concourse due to the convenient access it offers to Manhattan. “The hottest neighborhood in Harlem is The Bronx,” as Matthew Haines likes to put it. In Mott Haven, for example, the median home sale price in 2018 reached almost half a million dollars.
Some of the areas along the thoroughfare have already started gentrifying—notably South Bronx neighborhoods—and as time goes by, those further up north could be next.
Curious to see how much people have been paying for housing near the Grand Concourse in the past 5 years, we looked at the evolution of home prices in the neighborhoods adjacent to the street, all the way from Mott Haven to Bedford Park. In Mott Haven, home prices surged a whopping 124% in 5 years to $448,916, way above the Bronx’s $292,250 median. In addition, two neighborhoods saw an increase of almost 80%.
The neighborhoods we looked at were Mott Haven, Concourse, Concourse Village, Fordham and Bedford Park. Due to the lack of residential transactions, Mount Eden and Mount Hope were excluded from the study. For the other five neighborhoods, we calculated the median home sale price in each year from 2014 to 2018, and we also included a couple of homes that are currently on the market in 2019.
Mott Haven Sees a Staggering 124% Median Sale Price Increase Since 2014
Mott Haven has become a prime destination for homebuyers that cannot afford to live in Manhattan and are also priced out of Brooklyn and Queens’ rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Investors have taken notice, and supply coupled with demand made home prices skyrocket over the past few years in the waterfront neighborhood.
The median home sale price in Bronx’s “Williamsburg” has seen a remarkable evolution in 5 years. From 2014 to 2018, prices more than doubled, going from $200,000 to $448,916—a 124% increase. The neighborhoods median home sale price is way above the Bronx’s 2018 median of $292,250.
Most of the residential sales in 2014 and 2015 were co-ops and condos, and starting from 2016, a large number of single-family homes changed hands. This also added to the neighborhood’s median home price spike.
As of February 2019, the most expensive home for sale in Mott Haven is a $459,000 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom condo.
Home Prices in Concourse Grow 62% in 5 Years to a Median of $251,500 in 2018
With Concourse also being among the closest Bronx neighborhoods to Manhattan, it’s no wonder prices have been increasing at an accelerated rate here, as well. Concourse was always a great point of interest in New York City, the neighborhood being home to the Yankee Stadium, Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Bronx Courthouse, appealing not only to residents but tourists alike.
Although 10 years ago new residential development was pretty much flat, investment activity really picked up after 2015 as over 700 affordable and market-rate units were added in 2016 and 2017. 2015 was also the year Starbucks opened up shop in Concourse, an event that some say marked the first sign of the neighborhood’s gentrification.
Since 2014, the median home sale price in Concourse increased 62%, going from $155,000 to $251,500 in 2018. Currently, the most expensive home listed on PropertyShark in Concourse is a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom co-op unit, at a price tag of $315,000.
Concourse Village: The Second Most Expensive Neighborhood Bordering Bronx’s “Park Avenue”
Concourse Village has an authentic NYC feel to it, with plenty of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. The crime rate has dropped over the years, and public schools in the neighborhood have an above-average rating.
As far as the median home sale price, it went up 76% since 2014, going from $167,500 to $295,000 in 2018. Concourse Village and Mott Haven are the only neighborhoods along the street where the median sale price exceeds the Bronx’s median.
At $575,000, 1100 Grand Concourse is currently the priciest single-family home listed on PropertyShark in Concourse Village. The second most expensive home is listed at $499,000, followed by two properties listed for a price tag of $449,000. At this rate, prices will likely pass the $300,000 median threshold by the end of 2019.
Fordham Median Home Prices Increased Almost 80% from 2014 to 2018
A Bronx neighborhood along the Grand Concourse that houses the third oldest university in New York and is within close proximity to both The Bronx Zoo and The Bronx Botanical Garden offers appealing investment opportunities for real estate developers, investors and home buyers alike.
From 2014 to 2018, the median home sale price rose from $125,000 to $222,000, up 77.6%. Although seeing almost an 80% surge in 5 years, in 2016 and 2017 prices actually dipped, with a substantial 85% increase taking place in 2018.
Currently, the most expensive listing in Fordham is 2677 Bainbridge Avenue, an 8-bed, 4-bathroom single-family home listed for $628,000.
5 Years of Home Price Evolution Brings Bedford Park’s Median to $185,000
Located in northwestern Bronx, Bedford Park is a quiet, suburban neighborhood with plenty of green space and exceptional transportation options. Although being the furthest neighborhood from Manhattan along the Concourse, taking the D subway line can get you straight to Midtown in about 40 minutes.
When it comes to housing, Bedford Park is the most affordable neighborhood compared to the others bordering the thoroughfare. The median home sale price in 2018 was $185,000, up 56.2% from 2014’s $118,444. As of 2019, the most expensive single-family listing on PropertyShark in Bedford Park is this $750,000 home.
Methodology
The median home sale price in Mott Haven, Concourse, Concourse Village, Fordham and Bedford Park was calculated in every year from 2014 to 2018 (5 years).
Although located along the Grand Concourse, Mount Eden and Mount Hope weren’t included in the study due to low volume of residential transactions which weren’t enough to reflect the accurate median home sale price in the neighborhoods.
Only condos, co-ops, single & two- family homes were included.