Toward the end of every year, StreetEasy reveals 10 New York City neighborhoods to watch in the upcoming year. In our list for 2023, Queens is king, with four neighborhoods in the borough scoring a spot. Two neighborhoods in Queens with easy access to Manhattan along the 7 train line soared in popularity, while two other Queens neighborhoods with more affordable home prices also made the list. With more New Yorkers working from home, buyers and renters will continue to look deeper in Brooklyn in search of affordability, while those prioritizing easier access to the office will flock to Manhattan’s east side.
We define our top 10 NYC neighborhoods to watch in 2023 as the neighborhoods that saw the greatest rise in interest among buyers and renters in 2022. These neighborhoods saw strong annual growth in home prices, rents, and user searches on StreetEasy – a trend that could very well continue next year. We ranked the neighborhoods based on an average of these three factors.
Shrinking affordability in the city forced renters and buyers to look beyond neighborhoods they dream about. To fit a wider range of New Yorkers’ budgets, we only considered neighborhoods where median asking prices are below $1M (30% above the citywide median sale price this year) and median asking rents are below $4,500 (40% above the citywide median), with at least 100 for-sale and for-rent listings respectively in 2022.
Manhattan’s East Side Will Draw New Yorkers Who Want Easy Access to Work
East side neighborhoods in Manhattan rose in popularity this year as more workers returned to the office at least part time, including number one on our list: Turtle Bay. A sub-neighborhood of Midtown East bounded by the East River and Lexington Avenue from 42nd to 53rd Street, Turtle Bay was popular among buyers and renters, with strong demand driving up the median asking price by 25% to $992,500 from the 2021 median. Combined with a large jump in user searches from the previous year, Turtle Bay claimed the top spot on our list of neighborhoods to watch in 2023.
Turtle Bay Homes Under $1M on StreetEasy Article continues below
Kips Bay, another neighborhood on Manhattan’s east side, made our list at #8 largely due to the strong rental demand in the area this year. Median asking rents jumped 39% to $4,000 from 2021 in this neighborhood. Adjacent to Koreatown, NoMad, and the Flatiron District, Kips Bay is within walking distance of offices in these areas. Home shoppers can find modern high-rise apartments, in addition to well-established condo and co-op buildings.
East Harlem, which soared in popularity among renters this summer, was the second hottest neighborhood in Manhattan and #3 overall on our list. New developments over the past few years have led to increased interest in the area. Median asking rents in the neighborhood rose 21% year-over-year to $2,600 in 2022 as more renters flocked to the area in search of affordability. East Harlem is home to a vibrant art scene and many local restaurants. It’s also the home of El Museo del Barrio, the oldest museum in the United States devoted to Latin American and Caribbean art.
New Yorkers Will Look Deeper in Brooklyn
With the ability to work from home, New Yorkers showed the willingness, or in some cases need, to go the extra mile in search of affordability. In Brooklyn, Bushwick ranked the highest among our neighborhoods to watch and was #2 on the citywide list. While farther away from Manhattan than Williamsburg, Bushwick’s median asking rent of $3,200 was $1,000 less than the median in Williamsburg. Bushwick also showed a larger increase in searches, jumping 31% from 2021, while Williamsburg searches rose by 18%. Besides the bustling nightlife and restaurants in the area, Bushwick likely drew stronger interest this year as renters and buyers looked nearby after being priced out of Williamsburg, a traditionally in-demand neighborhood.
Bushwick Rentals Under $3,000 on StreetEasy Article continues below
East Flatbush and Sunset Park were next up in Brooklyn. East Flatbush, #7 on the overall list and located in the center of Brooklyn, offers a diverse selection of homes including apartments, brownstones, and Victorian-style houses. Its popularity this year was also likely related to its relative affordability. The neighborhood’s median asking price was $609,500 in 2022, 20% below the borough median. The median asking rent was $2,400, 2% below the borough median.
Sunset Park, ranked 9th on our greater list, also offers affordable options for home shoppers. The median asking price was $591,000, 23% below the borough median. In addition to the Statue of Liberty views and gorgeous sunsets, renters on a budget can find a range of options in this neighborhood, where the median asking rent in 2022 was $2,200 – 12% below the borough median.
Queens Is King, With Much to Offer for New Yorkers on a Budget
Four neighborhoods in Queens scored a spot on our top 10 list this year. Queens offers more affordability along with convenient commutes to Manhattan and diverse housing options.
Elmhurst topped our list for Queens, and its sharp 42% increase in searches propelled it to #4 on the citywide list. With easy access to shopping destinations like malls and big-box stores, this central Queens neighborhood saw a 16% annual increase in median asking price this year to $436,000. The median asking rent also rose sharply by 17% to $2,100. While still 9% below the median asking rent for the borough, the jump in rent this year was likely related to New Yorkers looking for a place to live that fits their budget.
Queens neighborhoods along the 7 train line were popular this year, with Woodside and Sunnyside showing strong annual growth in home prices and rents. Relatively quick commutes to Manhattan and more affordable asking rents likely drove up buyer and renter interest in these areas this year. A strong jump in searches suggest rent and price growth could continue next year. Woodside, #5 on the overall list with a median asking price of $429,000 and median rent of $2,000, saw a 41% year-over-year increase in rental and sales listing searches. Sunnyside, #6 on the citywide list, also offers affordable options for renters with a median asking rent of $2,200, 4% lower than the borough median. That said, rents have been rising quickly in Sunnyside, increasing 19% in 2022 from the previous year as more renters flocked to the area in search of affordability. User searches for a home in this neighborhood had a significant rise of 42% year-over-year.
Queens Homes Under $800K on StreetEasy Article continues below
Middle Village, just south of Elmhurst, offers mostly single-family or two-story, multi-family homes, but would-be residents can expect a longer commute to Manhattan. The neighborhood presents an opportunity to live in a bigger space, especially alluring for those with the option to work from home. Double-digit increases in asking prices and rents put this serene neighborhood at #10 on our list of neighborhoods to watch next year. The median asking price rose 11% year-over-year to $799,000, and the median asking rent jumped 14% year-over-year to $2,400.
How We Did It
We identified our 10 neighborhoods to watch in 2023 using a weighted average of three standardized indicators: annual change in median asking rent, annual change in median asking price, and annual change in user searches by neighborhood on StreetEasy in 2022. We assigned double weights to annual search growth to prioritize where users on StreetEasy were looking. We looked at neighborhoods where there were at least 100 for-sale and for-rent listings, respectively, between January and November 2022 as a robustness check. In addition, we only considered neighborhoods where median asking prices are below $1M (30% above the citywide median sale price this year, confirmed by ACRIS records) and where median asking rents are below $4,500 (40% above the citywide median, based on StreetEasy data).