image of williamsburg brooklyn nyc

Discounts are on the rise in Williamsburg.

As the April 2019 shutdown of the L train looms closer, North Brooklyn rents continue to decline, according to the February 2018 StreetEasy® Market Reports [i].

The StreetEasy Rent Index for North Brooklyn — which includes neighborhoods served by the L train, such as Williamsburg and Greenpoint [ii] — dropped for the seventh consecutive month, to $3,027, meaning that February rents were 0.6 percent lower than last year [iii]. One in four rentals in the submarket received a price cut in February, up 2.6 percent annually. North Brooklyn surpassed Northwest Brooklyn — which stretches from Red Hook to Clinton Hill [iv] — as the submarket with the largest share of rentals discounted in the borough (25 percent compared to 21 percent).

Home sales prices in North Brooklyn remained strong: The StreetEasy Price Index rose 3.3 percent year-over-year to $1,104,818, but the amount of time for-sale homes spent on the market in North Brooklyn increased by 34 days over last year, to a median of 108 days. North Brooklyn homes took longer to sell than those in any other Brooklyn submarket in February.

The rental market across the city moved in renters’ favor, with the StreetEasy Rent Indices for Manhattan and Brooklyn remaining relatively flat since this time last year, at $3,129 and $2,537, respectively. In Queens, the StreetEasy Rent Index continued to fall, dropping 1.9 percent year-over-year to $2,064, meaning that rents dipped by an average of $41 per month. The share of rental units offering a discount increased 4.3 percent in Queens, 1.3 percent in Brooklyn, and 1.4 percent in Manhattan. Across these three boroughs, landlords offered discounts on one in five rental units.

StreetEasy Price Indices [v] rose in Queens and Brooklyn and remained relatively flat in Manhattan year-over-year. The StreetEasy Price Index increased 6.4 percent in Queens to $516,148. StreetEasy Price Indices rose 2.9 percent in Brooklyn, to $751,240, and 0.8 percent in Manhattan, to $1,165,282.

“The L train shutdown is a tidal wave that’s been off on the horizon,” said StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “Now that we’re in the period where new leases will overlap with the shutdown in April 2019, we’re seeing landlords get more liberal with discounts to make sure they attract tenants — and maybe even incentivize them to stay for longer than a year. Renters should consider the reality of limited transportation to these areas, but there are bargains to be had if that’s a trade-off they’re willing to make.”

February 2018 Key Findings — Manhattan

  • Rents in Manhattan remained flat. StreetEasy’s Manhattan Rent Index rose just 0.6 percent to $3,129, continuing to mirror 2015 levels.
  • Sales prices stagnated, but declined in Upper Manhattan and the Upper East Side. StreetEasy’s Manhattan Price Index rose 0.8 percent to $1,165,282. Meanwhile, Upper Manhattan and the Upper East Side were the two areas where prices dropped, falling 1.9 and 1.3 percent year-over-year, respectively.
  • The Upper West Side offered the most rental discounts. One in four rentals on the Upper West Side were discounted, the highest share in Manhattan, up 1.7 percent since last year.
  • Homes in Manhattan spent longer on the market. Time on market grew 9 days since last year, to a median of 90 days in Manhattan. In the Upper East and Upper West Sides, time on market rose by more than a month, up 36 and 37 days year-over-year, respectively.

February 2018 Key Findings — Brooklyn

  • Rents in Brooklyn stagnated, and in North Brooklyn, they dropped. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Rent Index rose 0.7 percent year-over-year to $2,537. Rents dropped 0.6 percent in North Brooklyn, to $3,027.
  • Sale prices rose. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Price Indices rose 2.9 percent to $751,240. Prices in North Brooklyn rose 3.3 percent year-over-year, to $1,104,818.
  • Price cuts rose the most in Northwest Brooklyn. The share of homes that received a price cut grew 4.1 percent, to a total of 8 percent in Northwest Brooklyn.
  • North Brooklyn homes lingered on the market. The amount of time North Brooklyn homes spent on the market grew 34 days since last year, to a median of 108 days. Homes moved off the market fastest in the Prospect Park submarket [vi], with a median time on market of just 34 days.

February 2018 Key Findings — Queens

  • Queens rents fell while rental discounts rose. The StreetEasy Queens Rent Index fell 1.9 percent year-over-year to $2,064 — the largest annual decline recorded for the borough. The share of Queens rentals discounted grew by 4 percent year-over-year to 19 percent.
  • Rents dropped in Queens’ most expensive submarket. Rents in Northwest Queens — the borough’s priciest submarket — fell 3.3 percent year-over-year to $2,148, saving renters an average of $72 a month.
  • Homes sold quickest in Northwest Queens. Days on market dropped by a full 24 days in Northwest Queens, to a median of 81 days.
  • Prices rose to a record high. The StreetEasy Queens Price Index rose 6.4 percent to an all-time high of $516,148.
  • The share of homes with a price cut grew across Queens. The amount of price cuts offered on Queens homes rose 1.1 percent to 5.9 percent in February. South Queens was the only area where price cuts declined: down 1 percent, to just 4 percent of South Queens listings.

[i] The StreetEasy Market Reports are a monthly overview of the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens sales and rental markets. Every three months, a quarterly analysis is published. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, with more than a decade of history for most metrics. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit our Market Reports page. StreetEasy tracks data for all five boroughs within New York City, but currently only produces reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

[ii] The North Brooklyn submarket covers Greenpoint, Williamsburg and East Williamsburg.

[iii] The StreetEasy Rent Indices utilize a similar methodology to the StreetEasy Price Indices and include only valid and verified listings from StreetEasy. By employing a repeat-rentals approach, the indices emphasize the changes in rent on individual properties and not between different sets of properties. Full methodology here.

[iv] The Northwest Brooklyn submarket covers Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Dumbo, Vinegar Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Columbia St. Waterfront District and Clinton Hill.

[v] The StreetEasy Price Indices track changes in resale prices of condo, co-op, and townhouse units. Each index uses a repeat-sales method of comparing the sales prices of the same properties since January 1995 in Manhattan and January 2007 in Brooklyn and Queens. Given this methodology, each index accurately captures the change in home prices by controlling for the varying composition of homes sold in a given month. Levels of the StreetEasy Price Indices reflect average values of homes on the market. Data on the sale of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance. Full methodology here.

[vi] The Prospect Park submarket covers Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Prospect Park South.

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