Why prices in Cobble Hill /Carroll Gardens/Park Slope don't make sense.

I have been looking for a two bed or jr two bed in these Brooklyn neighborhoods since September of last year. Something that has struck me, in particular with regard to Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens is how little the asking prices have changed... and how high they are. For example: Here's what you can get in Carroll Gardens- price $879 for a two bed: pros: good school district, two balconies;... [more]

I have been looking for a two bed or jr two bed in these Brooklyn neighborhoods since September of last year. Something that has struck me, in particular with regard to Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens is how little the asking prices have changed... and how high they are. For example: Here's what you can get in Carroll Gardens- price $879 for a two bed: pros: good school district, two balconies; cons: 20 minute walk to the subway and on the "wrong side" of the BQE: http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/231155-coop-142-sackett-st-carroll-gardens-brooklyn Now, recently, a jr. two bed on Central Park (albeit in an estate condition) sold for 755K (or 775 per sq foot). http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/366473-coop-1025-fifth-avenue-upper-east-side-new-york StreetEasy History 11/19/2008 Listed in StreetEasy by CBHK at $789,000. 01/28/2009 Listing entered contract. 04/15/2009 Listing is no longer available. 04/23/2009 Listing sold. 04/23/2009 Sale recorded for $755,000. And another, now on Central Park West (with an admittedly akward layout) entered contract at 675K (can't see the contract price). http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/358749-coop-1-west-67th-street-lincoln-square-new-york It seems to me, it's only a matter of time until Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens and Park Slope catch up on their way down. Cobble Hill is my favorite neighborhood in New York and I would much rather live there than on Central Park but I realize that this personal preference is just that. The point is not to start a neighborhood war, I think most people would agree that the prices for a Cobble Hill coop should be significantly less than for a coop on Fifth Avenue. Maybe one explanation for the asking prices in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens (and to a lesser extent PS) is that the sales volume there is so low and thus, it is harder to monitor market movement because there are so few data points. If you search recorded sales, there are very few that show up from the last couple of months in CH and CG and a lot that do are from the Baltic Condo and could have entered contract before the meltdown. Now, at the risk of comparing apples to oranges, I am going to throw this in. This is what a new development in Carroll Gardens (a townhouse conversion) is asking-- 925K for 1,205sq feet. http://www.streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/398587-condo-90-first-place-carroll-gardens-brooklyn Do you agree that because of the sales in "prime" Manhattan, the prices in "prime" Brooklyn are already set at a certain level and the question is when they will catch up with that reality? And if you agree, do you have any thoughts about when that may happen and why are prices stuck? [less]