The city’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has solidified new preferences for where New Yorkers wish to live. StreetEasy’s list of NYC neighborhoods to watch for 2022 reflects these new trends, leading to a list somewhat different from years past. Last year, Brooklyn dominated the list. It does this year, too — but the borough’s popularity has spread even further, to the neighborhoods next door to last year’s entries. For example, this year we see Gowanus instead of Park Slope.
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We define our NYC neighborhoods to watch for 2022 as the areas that saw the greatest surge in interest among buyers, renters, and sellers in 2021, gearing them up for continued interest this coming year. To create this list we ranked the areas based on an index of three factors: increases in sales prices, rents, and user searches year-over-year.
Downtown Manhattan’s Amenities Draw New Yorkers Who Can Afford Them
The hottest neighborhoods in Manhattan are also among the most expensive. Topping the list is SoHo, joined by Greenwich Village and Flatiron. Now that shopping, restaurants, and nightlife have reopened, living in — or close to — neighborhoods with a lot going on has become important again. At least, to those New Yorkers who can afford to.
Note: A proposal that would rezone SoHo to expand housing opportunities for New Yorkers is currently under review by the City Council.
“Cool” Brooklyn Neighborhoods Are Cool Again
All the fun of pre-pandemic New York is not limited to Manhattan, of course. The neighborhoods in Brooklyn that have always been hot or up and coming are once again the top neighborhoods for 2022. Dumbo and Fort Greene are relatively easy to access from Manhattan’s office centers, and provide a diverse range of restaurants and nightlife that help make NYC the greatest city in the world. Interestingly, Bushwick ranks higher this year than Williamsburg, which didn’t even make our top 10. (On last year’s list, Williamsburg came in at number 7, while Bushwick was 9.) Bushwick has similar transportation options but is farther from Manhattan.
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Working from home has changed where people decide to live in order to save money or gain space. The New Yorkers who wish to live in, say, Bushwick or Gowanus may be seeking the creative vibe SoHo once had in terms of food, nightlife, and even people watching. Before COVID, these beloved Brooklyn neighborhoods were gaining traction. Gowanus and Red Hook, though, are a difficult commute for anyone who does not have easy access to the G or F trains. In fact, Red Hook was one of the only neighborhoods on our list where rents fell year-over-year. But sales prices rose so significantly — 21%— that the neighborhood still made our list.
Another interesting note: Gowanus was recently approved for a massive rezoning plan. The plan will add 8,500 new apartments to the neighborhood by 2035, including 3,000 affordable units.
New NYC Neighborhoods to Watch in the Bronx and Queens
Many of the hot NYC neighborhoods on this list are also expensive. But two have median asking rents below $2,000: Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, and Fordham in the Bronx. These are also the only two areas on our list outside of Manhattan or Brooklyn. With plenty of green space and parks nearby, these neighborhoods are great options for New Yorkers who do not need to commute to Manhattan and are looking for more space.
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It’s no surprise that these are also university neighborhoods, now that campuses are open for in-person classes. Fordham is home to Fordham University, and Kew Gardens Hills is a stone’s throw away from Queens College. According to a report by the NYC Comptroller’s office, the reopening of in-person learning coincided with an improvement in net residential migration to the city.
How We Did It
We identified our 10 NYC neighborhoods to watch for 2022 using an index of three key performance indicators: annual change in median asking rent, annual change in median sale price, and annual change in user searches that include a given neighborhood on StreetEasy.