Robert Demeter 
Key Takeaways:
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- Even with a 30% y-o-y decrease, TriBeCa pulls through as NYC’s priciest neighborhood
- A $3.2 million median sale price lands SoHo its usual second spot
- Brooklyn’s Fort Greene sees the sharpest median sale price increase: 131% y-o-y
- DUMBO remains the only Brooklyn neighborhood in the top 10
- With a $2.3 million median sale price, West Village jumps from #18 to #3
- The Upper East Side boasts the most robust transaction activity, with 495 properties sold
When it comes to expensive home sales, New York City manages to hold its ground year-after-year and quarter-after-quarter—no matter the market conditions. Citywide stability is underpinned by median sale prices trending both upwards and downwards in an almost equal number of neighborhoods, so if one area is cooling off, transaction activity and prices are most certainly heating up elsewhere.
TriBeCa, SoHo Continue to Reign as NYC’s Most Expensive Neighborhoods
Each quarter, the neighborhoods on our top 50 lists keep trading places, but the top two spots are almost always constant. Boasting a median sale price of more than $3.5 million, TriBeCa remains New York City’s most expensive neighborhood, followed by SoHo.
Year-over-year, TriBeCa saw a 30% decrease in median sale prices. The neighborhood couldn’t outperform Q1 2017 due to pricy sales that closed last year at two new luxury developments and inflated the median sale price. These included 37 transactions at 30 Park Place, with a median price of $5.6 million, and 21 deals at 56 Leonard St., with a median price of $7.2 million.
SoHo recorded a mild 5% decrease year-over-year, closing this year’s first quarter with a median sale price of $3.2 million. The same number of properties (36) changed hands in both Q1 2017 and Q1 2018, for approximately the same median sale price.
Manhattan Still Dominates the Top 10, Brooklyn’s DUMBO Stays at #5
Nine out of the 10 leading positions on our list are occupied by Manhattan neighborhoods, which comes as no surprise.
One of the most noteworthy changes took place in West Village. The neighborhood recorded an 88% year-over-year increase, boasting a median sale price of $2.3 million in Q1—which landed it the third spot on the list. The spike occurred as 10 transactions closed in Q1 2018 at 643-651 Greenwich Street, at a median sale price of $3.8 million. Flatiron District’s median sale price dropped 12% year-over-year to roughly $1.9 million, while Central Park South (11%), the East Village (73%) and Chelsea (22%) saw increases.
DUMBO saw a 13% contraction year-over-year, its median price dropping just below $2 million. Even so, the neighborhood managed to keep its 5th position, with a median sale price of $1.9 million. A total of 15 transactions closed in Q1 2018.
Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Sees Median Sale Price More Than Double YoY
Fort Greene stole the show with an outstanding performance: the median sale price in the neighborhood surged 131% year-over-year to just under $1.3 million. Prices have been boosted by new luxury developments, which resulted in the area having the highest growth rate out of our top 50. At $3.2 million—well above the area’s median—a dwelling at 59 S. Elliot was the neighborhood’s most expensive transaction.
Greenpoint climbed 39 positions to #12 with an 81% year-over-year increase and a median sale price surpassing $1.3 million. Carrol Gardens (up 31%) and Park Slope (22%) both registered increases, while Gowanus (-17%), Boerum Hill (-28%) and Brooklyn Heights (-35%) trended downwards.
Queens’ Priciest Neighborhood Almost Hits the $1 Million Mark
The median sale price in Queens’ Belle Harbor rose to $995,000, just $5,000 short of $1 million. Median sale prices in the neighborhood increased 29% year-over-year, with only 7 expensive transactions, including the dwelling at 270 Beach 137 St., which traded for almost $1.6 million. At #34, Queensboro Hill is the second-priciest neighborhood in the borough, with an $883,500 median sale price and a 4% year-over-year drop.
In total, 7 Queens neighborhoods made the top 50 list—albeit mostly in the bottom half of the chart—including Auburndale ($880,000 median sale price), Hunters Point ($817,475), East Flushing ($787,500) and Fresh Meadows ($773,000).
You can see the full ranking in the table below:
| # | Borough | Neighborhood | Median Sale Price Q1 2018 | Y-o-Y Change | Transactions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manhattan | TriBeCa | $3,575,000 | -30% | 50 |
| 2 | Manhattan | SoHo | $3,212,500 | -5% | 36 |
| 3 | Manhattan | West Village | $2,312,500 | 88% | 84 |
| 4 | Manhattan | Hudson Square | $2,264,500 | -10% | 12 |
| 5 | Brooklyn | DUMBO | $1,970,000 | -13% | 15 |
| 6 | Manhattan | Flatiron District | $1,850,000 | -12% | 60 |
| 7 | Manhattan | Garment District | $1,690,000 | 47% | 9 |
| 8 | Manhattan | Central Park South | $1,550,000 | 11% | 19 |
| 9 | Manhattan | East Village | $1,535,012 | 73% | 84 |
| 10 | Manhattan | Chelsea | $1,430,000 | 22% | 93 |
| 11 | Manhattan | Greenwich Village | $1,360,000 | -7% | 90 |
| 12 | Brooklyn | Greenpoint | $1,352,182 | 81% | 32 |
| 13 | Brooklyn | Carroll Gardens | $1,314,000 | 31% | 15 |
| 14 | Brooklyn | Fort Greene | $1,280,000 | 131% | 19 |
| 15 | Manhattan | Upper East Side | $1,219,000 | 11% | 495 |
| 16 | Brooklyn | Park Slope | $1,205,000 | 22% | 102 |
| 17 | Brooklyn | Gowanus | $1,190,000 | -17% | 14 |
| 18 | Manhattan | Lower East Side | $1,175,000 | 47% | 65 |
| 19 | Brooklyn | Boerum Hill | $1,165,000 | -28% | 17 |
| 20 | Manhattan | Upper West Side | $1,135,000 | 4% | 464 |
| 21 | Manhattan | Financial District | $1,127,500 | -30% | 64 |
| 22 | Manhattan | Battery Park City | $1,120,000 | 6% | 35 |
| 23 | Brooklyn | Brooklyn Heights | $1,100,000 | -35% | 73 |
| 24 | Manhattan Manhattan | Gramercy Park Theatre District - Times Square | $1,060,000 $1,060,000 | 21% -21% | 57 17 |
| 25 | Manhattan | Sutton Place | $1,050,000 | 10% | 73 |
| 26 | Brooklyn | Prospect Heights | $1,048,400 | 23% | 55 |
| 27 | Queens | Belle Harbor | $995,000 | 29% | 7 |
| 28 | Manhattan | Central Midtown | $992,500 | -23% | 40 |
| 29 | Manhattan | Clinton - Hell's Kitchen | $986,260 | -13% | 96 |
| 30 | Brooklyn | Manhattan Beach | $953,900 | -35% | 16 |
| 31 | Manhattan | Turtle Bay | $950,000 | -10% | 83 |
| 32 | Brooklyn | Williamsburg | $947,692 | -2% | 120 |
| 33 | Brooklyn | Dyker Heights | $922,000 | 13% | 25 |
| 34 | Queens | Queensboro Hill | $883,500 | -4% | 16 |
| 35 | Queens | Auburndale | $880,000 | 10% | 31 |
| 36 | Brooklyn Brooklyn | Mill Basin Downtown Brooklyn | $860,000 $860,000 | 14% 18% | 10 57 |
| 37 | Brooklyn | Clinton Hill | $855,000 | 17% | 37 |
| 38 | Brooklyn | Cobble Hill | $840,000 | -36% | 17 |
| 39 | Queens | Hunters Point | $817,475 | -16% | 111 |
| 40 | Brooklyn | Bedford-Stuyvesant | $792,500 | -1% | 86 |
| 41 | Brooklyn | Borough Park | $790,000 | 7% | 62 |
| 42 | Queens | East Flushing | $787,500 | -16% | 26 |
| 43 | Manhattan | Kips Bay | $777,500 | 14% | 30 |
| 44 | Queens | Fresh Meadows | $773,000 | -2% | 44 |
| 45 | Brooklyn | Madison | $762,500 | 0% | 22 |
| 46 | Brooklyn | Greenwood Heights | $760,833 | -20% | 8 |
| 47 | Manhattan | Civic Center | $745,000 | - | 6 |
| 48 | Manhattan | Murray Hill | $740,000 | 14% | 153 |
| 49 | Brooklyn | Windsor Terrace | $735,000 | 5% | 27 |
| 50 | Queens | Middle Village | $730,000 | 4% | 29 |
Methodology:
The median sale prices were calculated based on residential property sales closed between January 1, 2018 and March 31, 2018. The residential properties included in the stats are single-family homes, condos and co-ops.
