Eliza Theiss Key Takeaways:
- SoHo becomes #1 most expensive NYC neighborhood for first time in 8 years
- Hudson Yards absent from rankings due to insufficient sales for first time since early days of pandemic shutdowns
- Hollis Hills median sale price jumps 125% Y-o-Y, stops just below $1M
- Greenpoint sales more than double compared to year-ago figures, median price climbs 20%
- 28 neighborhoods surpass $1 million — five fewer than in Q3 2023
- For first time in nearly three years, Brooklyn ranks more neighborhoods than Manhattan among city’s 50 most expensive
- NYC median sale price ticks up 3% Y-o-Y to reach $770,000, sales activity inches up 6% for a total of 7,925 transactions
- The Bronx leaves top 50 as Fieldston returns to more typical price levels
Following a nearly flat second quarter, the New York City real estate market picked up some steam in the third quarter, although both citywide sales and price indicators grew at a measured pace. Specifically, NYC’s median sale price ticked up 3% year-over-year (Y-o-Y) to $770,000 and sales inched up 6% Y-o-Y to reach a total of 7,925 transactions Q3 2024.
For the purposes of this report, NYC is defined as the four boroughs of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens.
Zooming in to the city’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods, the third quarter of the year brought significant changes: Namely, Hudson Yards was absent from the rankings for the first time since the early days of the pandemic due to insufficient sales. As a result, SoHo reclaimed the title of the #1 most expensive neighborhood in NYC for the first time since 2016.
Explore the interactive map below for at-a-glance price and sales insights for NYC’s neighborhoods in Q3 2024:
Hudson Yards’ Absence Makes SoHo Priciest NYC Neighborhood for 1st Time Since 2016
The city’s increased median sale price was reflected among the 10 most expensive neighborhoods, as well, with seven experiencing price increases as sharp as 55% Y-o-Y. Notably, in terms of sales, only one of the 10 priciest neighborhoods recorded fewer than 20 sales.
But the biggest change was to the leading spot: For the first time in eight years, SoHo was the #1 most expensive neighborhood in NYC after closing the third quarter of the year with a $4.25 million median sale price. This came despite an 8% Y-o-Y decrease in SoHo’s median sale price and was the direct result of Hudson Yards’ absence due to depressed sales. In fact, NYC’s newest neighborhood closed only four residential sales between July and September.
It’s worth noting here that this was Hudson Yards’ first absence from the city’s most expensive neighborhoods list since Q2 2020, when the onset of the pandemic caused a record 44 neighborhoods to close fewer than five sales (the absolute minimum threshold for determining representative pricing indicators). Back then, it was TriBeCa that took over as the city’s most expensive neighborhood, followed by Little Italy — which was also absent from Q3 2024 rankings due to insufficient sales — and then SoHo.
Fast forward to Q3 2024, TriBeCa was the #2 most expensive NYC neighborhood with a $3.9 million median sale price — the result of a 55% Y-o-Y price jump. At the same time, TriBeCa (along with #22 Lower East Side) also underwent the second-largest slowdown in transactional activity with sales dropping 36% Y-o-Y. In this case, both TriBeCa indicators were strongly influenced by the decrease in co-op sales, which made up half of all deals in Q3 2023, including 51 that took place at 450 Washington St. alone.
Similarly, sales were down in Hudson Square, too, and price trends were decidedly negative. In fact, Hudson Square logged the third-sharpest price drop among NYC’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods, coming in 31% below its year-ago $2.7 million.
Despite this, Hudson Square was the #3 priciest neighborhood in the city with a $1.85 million median sale price. It also kept Brooklyn out of the top three with a mere $10,000 edge: Cobble Hill was the #4 most expensive neighborhood in NYC at $1.84 million.
With a median sale price of $1.78 million, the Theatre District-Times Square area was the #5 most expensive. Here, price trends showed incremental gains, but sales increased by more than half, totaling 50 individual transactions. Close behind was the $1.75 million Flatiron District as the #6 priciest NYC neighborhood in Q3 2024.
Meanwhile, a 35% Y-o-Y price hike made Chelsea the #7 most expensive neighborhood at $1.68 million. Chelsea also had the most active sales market among NYC’s 10 richest neighborhoods to total 175 transactions in the third quarter.
Next, although it was the third-priciest neighborhood in Q3 2023, DUMBO slid to #8 following a 41% Y-o-Y price cut — the second sharpest among the city’s 50 most exclusive. As a result, DUMBO’s median sale price fell from last year’s $2.83 million to the current $1.67 million. This stemmed from the smaller footprints of homes sold, which averaged 1,310 square feet this year, as opposed to last year’s 1,625 square feet.
As Brooklyn’s last representative in the city’s top 10, Carroll Gardens was the #9 most expensive neighborhood at $1.63 million. Not only was the neighborhood $238,000 pricier than in Q3 2023, but sales were up 85% Y-o-Y — the third-sharpest increase among NYC’s richest neighborhoods. Not to be outdone, Manhattan rounded out the top 10: Greenwich Village was the #10 priciest NYC neighborhood in Q3thanks to a 14% increase that lifted its median sale price to $1.6 million.
Brooklyn Claims 23 of NYC’s 50 Most Expensive Neighborhoods, Overtakes Manhattan After Nearly 3 Years
After tying with 21 neighborhoods each in the first two quarters of the year, Brooklyn took the lead in the third quarter by supplying 23 of the city’s priciest neighborhoods. This marked the first time since Q2 2021 that Brooklyn had a stronger presence than Manhattan among the 50 most expensive neighborhoods. It was also the only other occasion in five years when the boroughs reversed ranks. Prior to that, Brooklyn last outperformed Manhattan in Q4 2019.
Although only Cobble Hill, DUMBO, and Carroll Gardens ranked among the city’s 10 most exclusive neighborhoods in Q3, Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights were not far behind. In truth, only $4,000 kept Boerum Hill from equaling #10 Greenwich Village. In the end, Boerum Hill closed the third quarter as the #11 priciest NYC neighborhood with a $1,596,000 median sale price.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Heights was the #13 most expensive neighborhood in NYC with a median sale price of $1.41 million. That was the result of a 42% Y-o-Y price increase fueled by decreases in co-op sales, as well as increased numbers of condo sales.
Beyond claiming a heavier presence among the city’s 50 richest neighborhoods, Brooklyn also stood out with some of the sharpest increases in the number of sales. Specifically, four of the five neighborhoods where sales accelerated most were in Brooklyn.
Among them, Greenpoint led the way as sales here more than doubled compared to the same period last year, going from 31 to 64 deals. Granted, 25 of those sales were clustered at The Huron — a 171-unit, 13-story condo development.
Hollis Hills had the next-highest increase in sales at 89% Y-o-Y, followed closely by Carroll Gardens, which was up 85% Y-o-Y. Much of the increase in Carroll Gardens sales came from the sale of single family homes: Six single family homes sold in Q3 2024, compared to none in Q3 2023. The same held true for Wingate, where the sale of three more single family homes in Q3 2024 versus the same period last year translated to a 60% price jump.
And, in Madison, all three asset types saw more activity, but especially single family homes, which tripled in numbers: Madison was the setting for 19 single family home sales in Q3 2024, as opposed to 14 during the same period last year.
Queens Ranks 11 Neighborhoods for 2nd Time in 2024, Claims Sharpest Price Hike With 125% Hollis Hills Surge
While NYC’s median sale price ticked up 3% Y-o-Y, Queens inched up 5% during the same period and ranked 11 neighborhoods among the city’s 50 most expensive. That was reflected in the fact that Queens was also home to the two sharpest price increases among the city’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods.
In particular, Hollis Hills shot up 125% Y-o-Y, going from last year’s $430,000 median sale price to $966,000 this year. That was paired with an 89% surge in sales — the second highest among the city’s leading neighborhoods.
However, in terms of actual sales, that only translated to an increase of eight transactions (from nine last year to 17 this year). Rather, the notable gains in both indicators were fueled by a change in the mix of properties sold in Hollis Hills. More precisely, it was an increase in sales of single family homes, which represented 10 of the 17 sales recorded in Q3 2024, whereas only four single family homes sold in Q3 2023.
In East Flushing, the neighborhood’s 81% Y-o-Y surge had more complex factors. First, sales in East Flushing dropped 40% Y-o-Y — the sharpest rate of NYC’s 50 priciest neighborhoods — after going from 35 sales to 21. Second, only one less single family home sold this year compared to last year. Co-ops and condos accounted for the rest of the decrease.
Finally, all 14 single family homes sold in Q3 2024 fetched prices well above the neighborhood’s Q3 2023 median sale price with the lowest-priced single family home trading hands for $880,000. Consequently, the median sale price in East Flushing reached $980,000 to stop just shy of $1 million.
Overall, three Queens neighborhoods surpassed $1 million in the third quarter of the year with Hunters Point in the lead: A $1.21 million median sale price ranked it as the #20 most expensive neighborhood in the city, making Hunters Point the only Queens neighborhood in the top half of our rankings.
Likewise, Fresh Meadows stood at #27 with a $1.04 million median sale price — nearly $200,000 higher than the same period last year. The third Queens neighborhood north of $1 million was Belle Harbor, which closed the third quarter of the year at $1.03 million, but recorded only six sales.
Interestingly, this was the second time in 2024 that Queens featured 11 neighborhoods among the 50 most expensive. For comparison, the most that Queens contributed last year was nine neighborhoods.
Bronx Back to Conventional Price Parameters, Misses Top 50
The median sale price of the Bronx was nearly flat year-over-year, ticking up a negligible 1% to just $365,000. And, as has usually been the case until the very recent past, the borough also did not rank any neighborhoods among the city’s 50 most expensive.
While the Bronx had reappeared in the previous quarter after its original debut in Q1 2023, the borough did not return in Q3. That’s because the real estate landscape in Fieldston (its flagship neighborhood) was back to normal parameters. As a matter of fact, at just $323,000, Fieldston wasn’t even the priciest Bronx neighborhood in Q3. Instead, it was Morris Park with a $730,000 median sale price.
For more information, explore New York City’s 50 most expensive neighborhoods in Q3 2024 in the interactive table below:
Methodology
Median sale prices were calculated based on closed residential property sales recorded in ACRIS between July 1 and September 30, 2023, and July 1 and September 30, 2024. 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 July 1 and September 30, 2024. 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 July 1 and September 30, 2023. Additionally, median sale prices were rounded to the nearest $1,000.
In this report, NYC is defined as the four boroughs of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. Staten Island was excluded.
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