Key Takeaways:  

• Hudson Yards & TriBeCa remain most expensive NYC neighborhoods at $5.73M and $3.73M, respectively
• Brooklyn claims its first-ever top 3 position with Vinegar Hill at $2.6M
• The Bronx marks historic first appearance among NYC’s top 50 priciest neighborhoods as Fieldston median surges 149% Y-o-Y
• NYC median sale price drops by $58,000 Y-o-Y as market continues to cool
• Citywide sales decelerate 35% while 46 of NYC’s priciest neighborhoods log declines
• 31 neighborhoods post medians of $1M and above — two fewer than in Q1 2022
• Manhattan median drops $94K Y-o-Y to close Q1 at $1,066,000
• Brooklyn marks sharpest sales deceleration as transactional activity slows 42% Y-o-Y
• Down 72% Y-o-Y, Queens’ Ditmars-Steinway claims most drastic decrease in neighborhood-level transactional activity

The New York City real estate market continued to cool throughout the first three months of the year with both sales and medians trending decidedly down. More precisely, NYC’s median sale price rested at $695,000 at the end of March, coming in $55,000 lower than the previous quarter and $75,000 below its historic pricing peak in Q2 2021. The number of sales, however, contracted at an even sharper rate: The city saw 35% fewer residential deals than during the same period last year, with nearly 3,500 fewer home sales inked in the first quarter of the year.

Q1 2023 Marks 2 Historic Firsts for NYC’s 50 Most Expensive Neighborhoods

The 53 neighborhoods that made our top 50 (the result of a number of ties) were comprised of 22 Manhattan neighborhoods, 22 Brooklyn communities, eight locations from Queens and the very first Bronx neighborhood to land among the city’s most exclusive. And, although sales dropped significantly across the four boroughs and contracted in 46 of the city’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods — in addition to medians dropping in 27 of the city’s top neighborhoods — the first quarter of 2023 also marked two historic firsts.

Specifically, for the first time ever, Brooklyn grabbed a spot among the city’s top three most expensive neighborhoods with Vinegar Hill’s $2.6 million median. Even more remarkable was the historic first appearance of the Bronx among the top 50 priciest NYC neighborhoods with Fieldston landing at #41 after the neighborhood’s median surged 149%. Here, the median sale price jumped from $338,000 in Q1 2022 to $840,000 in Q1 2023. Consequently, that lifted the Bronx neighborhood 99 positions among the city’s priciest, rising from #140 to #41.

With that surge, Fieldston (and the Bronx) claimed the sharpest price increase among the city’s leading neighborhoods. Notably, the remarkable climb was the result of a significant change in the property types sold: In Q1 2022, 87% of sales were co-ops and 7% single family homes. But, in the first quarter of this year, single family homes represented 54% of transactions, with co-ops making up 46% of deals.

Explore the interactive map below for at-a-glance price and sales insights for NYC’s neighborhoods in Q1 2023:

Top 10 Most Expensive NYC Neighborhoods: Vinegar Hill Ranks as #3 Priciest Neighborhood as SoHo Market Hits Brakes

The city’s top 10 most expensive neighborhoods were represented by a familiar mix of seven Manhattan and three Brooklyn neighborhoods, all of which saw sales decelerate.

Hudson Yards continued as the #1 most expensive NYC neighborhood with a $5,729,000 median sale price — the result of a 6% year-over-year (Y-o-Y) price increase that lifted its median by $324,000. Sales, however, dropped 67%. In fact, Hudson Yards closed only eight sales in the first quarter of the year. But NYC’s newest neighborhood wasn’t alone in negative sales growth: All of the city’s 10 most expensive neighborhoods logged significant price drops between 30% and 67%.

Still the #2 priciest neighborhood in NYC — TriBeCa posted a $3.5 million median sale price in the first quarter of 2023. That marked a 6% contraction compared to year-ago figures for a $225,000 decrease in the neighborhood’s median. Additionally, sales here slowed 65% Y-o-Y, going from 111 deals in Q1 2022 to just 39 transactions in Q1 2023. As a result, TriBeCa had the fifth-sharpest drop in sales among the city’s priciest neighborhoods, while Hudson Yards tied with Queens’ Fresh Meadows for the fourth-sharpest decrease.

The #3 most expensive neighborhood in Q1 2023 was Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill, marking the first time ever that a Brooklyn neighborhood ranked among the three richest neighborhoods in NYC.

At #4, SoHo was the only other NYC neighborhood with a median north of $2 million. Specifically, SoHo closed the first quarter of the year at $2.2 million following a 35% Y-o-Y drop — the second-sharpest price contraction among the city’s richest neighborhoods. In this case, the decrease stemmed from the change in property types sold in Q1 2023 versus the same period last year.

Namely, co-ops — a property type that is usually lower-priced than condo units — represented one-third of SoHo’s transactions last year but made up 68% of its first-quarter sales this year, thereby contributing significantly to the neighborhood’s $1.2 million median decrease.

Similarly, the Flatiron District saw its sales halved, going from 141 deals last year to 75 in Q1 2023. NYC’s #5 priciest neighborhood slipped under the $2 million threshold following a 7% Y-o-Y price contraction, which brought it to $1.95 million at the end of March.

At the same time, Hudson Square held onto #6 despite a 19% contraction in its median sale price, which took it from more than $2 million down to $1,195,000. This gave Hudson Square the fourth-sharpest price drop among the city’s richest neighborhoods. At the same time, sales in the neighborhood were less than half of year-ago levels.

Meanwhile, after resting at #22 in Q1 2022, the Theatre District-Times Square area surged back into the top 10 following a 54% price boost that lifted its median to $1.9 million. That gain increase was heavily influenced by the average size of homes sold, which grew by almost 400 square feet to more than 2,000 square feet. It’s worth noting here that the Theatre District-Times Square area also had the second-largest increase in pricing among the richest NYC neighborhoods.

Along with Hudson Yards and the Theatre District-Times Square area, DUMBO (#8), Carroll Gardens (#9) and Central Midtown (#10) all logged positive price trends, as well. In particular, Manhattan’s Central Midtown rose 21 positions, thanks to a 41% Y-o-Y price jump — the fifth sharpest among the city’s top 50 neighborhoods. It closed the first quarter with a $1.55 million median, partly due to the larger share of condos traded in Q1 2023 versus Q1 2022.

Brooklyn Makes Top 3 for 1st Time Ever with Vinegar Hill’s $2.6 Million Median

Recurrently the most expensive neighborhood in the borough, Vinegar Hill brought the first-ever top-three positions to Brooklyn. Its record $2.6 million median was heavily influenced by three sales at 288 Water St. — an eight-unit, ultra-boutique condominium project with high-end amenities.

However, it must be noted that Vinegar Hill just barely made the top 50 after having closed just five sales (the minimum sales threshold needed for determining accurate metrics). Generally speaking, sales in Vinegar Hill tend to fluctuate heavily from quarter to quarter.

DUMBO and Carroll Gardens were the borough’s two other neighborhoods to rank among the city’s 10 priciest. Brooklyn’s second- and third-most expensive neighborhoods both logged 11% Y-o-Y price gains, pushing DUMBO’s median up by $175,000 to $1,796,000, while Carroll Gardens’ median gained $171,000 to reach $1.71 million.

Two additional Brooklyn neighborhoods also stood out in terms of pricing, as well as sales trends: Cobble Hill logged the sharpest drop in median sale price among the richest neighborhoods in NYC, falling 58% Y-o-Y and going from #5 priciest in NYC to #25. This came after its median dropped to $1,128,000 at the end of Q1 2023, depreciating by $1.58 million.

Plus, Cobble Hill also claimed the second-largest slowdown in sales among the city’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods as sales decelerated by 71%, going from 28 transactions in Q1 2022 to just eight deals in Q1 2023. Moreover, this decrease in sales was paired with a mix of lower-priced sales: More precisely, 82% of last year’s first-quarter sales surpassed $1 million, while only 32% did in the first three months of 2023. Additionally, no new buildings came online to lift Cobble Hill sales and prices.

Conversely, the Prospect Heights-Lefferts Gardens area had the largest increase in sales among the city’s priciest neighborhoods, doubling its transactional activity year-over-year from just 10 deals to 20. What’s more, the Prospect Heights-Lefferts Gardens area also claimed the third-largest median sale price increase, rising 51% Y-o-Y.

As a result, the area reached a median sale price of $810,000 and went from #109 last year to #46 this year. In this case too, the neighborhood’s pricing surge was influenced by the different mix of property types sold: In Q1 2022, 60% were co-op sales, whereas only 25% of deals targeted co-ops in Q1 2023.

Queens Claims Sharpest Drop in Sales with Ditmars-Steinway’s 72% Plunge

Often a price leader in the borough, Hunters Point was again the #1 most expensive neighborhood in Queens, posting a $1,098,000 median at the end of March. While its median remained virtually unchanged from year-ago figures (decreasing by a negligible $4,000), Hunters Point closed 39% fewer sales.

However, that decrease was far surpassed by the 72% drop in sales numbers recorded in Ditmars-Steinway, marking the most significant slowdown in transactional activity among the city’s 50 priciest neighborhoods. That was heavily influenced by the fact that there were no new buildings that launched sales in Q1 2023, as opposed to Q1 2022, when 64% of sales originated at the high-end Rowan.

One of just two neighborhoods with medians above $1 million in Queens, Ditmars-Steinway was also the borough’s #2 most expensive neighborhood. That was the result of a 29% Y-o-Y price increase that lifted its median from $815,000 to $1.05 million.

But Ditmars wasn’t the only neighborhood in the borough to stand out in terms of sales slowdowns: Queens claimed three of the five most significant downshifts in transactional activity among NYC’s richest neighborhoods. Specifically, Auburndale’s 68% drop was the third sharpest among the priciest NYC neighborhoods, while Fresh Meadows’ 67% was fourth (tied with Hudson Yards).

Likewise, Fresh Meadows was also the borough’s fourth-priciest neighborhood at $889,000, while Queensboro Hill was third at $920,000 and Rockwood Park fifth with an $889,000 median. Queens also closed out the list of NYC’s top 50 most expensive neighborhoods with three entries: Hollis Hills (#48), Auburndale (#49) and Jamaica Estates (#50). Jamaica Estates’ $770,000 median sale price was particularly notable due to the fact that the figure was 6% lower than Q1 2022’s #50, which stood at $815,000.

Borough Metrics Trend Firmly Down as NYC Market Cooldown Continues in Q1 2023

NYC’s cooling residential market was exemplified not only by the downshifts observed within its 50 most expensive neighborhoods but at the borough level as well. In fact, both sales and pricing metrics trended down across the four boroughs, with the median sale prices of both Queens and the Bronx declining 9% Y-o-Y. Queens closed the first quarter of the year at $520,000, $49,000 under year-ago figures, while the Bronx stabilized at $306,000 following a $29,000 decline.

Although price decreases in Brooklyn and Manhattan were lower on a percentage basis, Brooklyn’s 5% dip brought the borough’s median down by $40,000 to $750,000 at the end of Q1. The Manhattan median came in 8% under year-ago figures, resulting in a $94,000 drop that cut the island’s median sale price to $1,066,000.

While price contractions in the four boroughs stayed in single digit territory, sales were slashed by at least 19% Y-o-Y. To be precise, the Bronx underwent the least drastic transactional slowdown among the four boroughs at 19% Y-o-Y, resulting in 426 deals in Q1 of this year, 99 fewer than during the same timeframe last year.

At the same time, Queens closed 800 fewer deals, posting a 28% Y-o-Y decrease in sales, followed by Manhattan’s 39% drop which slashed the borough’s sales market by nearly 1,500 deals. Brooklyn had the sharpest sales downshift on a percentage basis, closing 42% (or 1,050) fewer deals in Q1 2023 than in Q1 2022.

With borough-wide metrics trending down for the fourth consecutive quarter — and at increasingly sharp rates — the NYC real estate market is expected to stall in the near future.

For more information, explore New York City’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods in Q1 2023 in the interactive table below:

Methodology

Median sale prices were calculated based on closed residential property sales recorded in ACRIS between January 1 and March 31, 2022, and January 1 and March 31, 2023. Residential asset types included were single family homes, condos and co-ops. Package deals were excluded.

Median sale prices were calculated only for neighborhoods that recorded at least five sales between January 1 and March 31, 2023. Year-over-year changes in median sale prices or the number of sales were calculated only for neighborhoods that also recorded a minimum of five sales between January 1 and March 31, 2022. Additionally, median sale prices were rounded to the nearest $1,000.

The boundaries of some Manhattan neighborhoods may vary as data on several small neighborhoods is included in stats for larger areas. For example, Central Park South is included in the Theatre District-Times Square area; NoLita is included in Little Italy; NoHo is included in Greenwich Village; and Carnegie Hill, Lenox Hill and Yorkville are all included in the Upper East Side.