Posts Tagged ‘Park Slope’
Brooklyn Brownstones Drawing More Buyers
Park Slope Brownstones (Photo by Bruno J. Navarro)
NEW YORK — Along with the overall return of the real estate market throughout the New York metropolitan area, brownstones in Brooklyn have had a particularly strong recovery as buyers put an ever-increasing premium on square footage.
“It is amazing,” says one real estate broker quoted in the New York Times story, titled “Brooklyn’s Gold Rush.”
“It is a level of activity I have not seen since 2006-2007,” she adds. “There are so many people looking for brownstone buildings, and there is just no supply.”
Many brownstones are being purchased to be used as single-family residences, as well as multi-family homes, which have been on the rise in recent months.
The top Brooklyn neighborhoods, according to the article, were:
- Boerum Hill, with a median price of $1.7 million, up 60 percent from last year.
- Park Slope, with a median price at $1.45 million, almost 20 percent higher.
- Red Hook, with a median price of $825,000, up 73 percent, although only a few properties were for sale.
As always, if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a home in New York, especially in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens, please let me know.
Which Would You Buy: Apple Stock or a Home?
In 2002, if you had purchased Apple stock instead of putting the same amount of money into a house, you’d have almost $10 million right now. — “Why Apple Stock Is Better Investment Than a House,” CNBC.com, March 6, 2012.
NEW YORK — Time travel has always fascinated me, so I appreciated an article looking at the historic performance of Apple stock versus buying a home.
An excerpt from the article uses the average cost of a house from a decade ago.
For example, the typical American home cost $228,000 in 2002, according to U.S. census data. With that money, you could have bought 18,704 shares of Apple at their price a decade ago of $12.19 a share.
Today, that home is worth $280,000 and that Apple holding is worth $9,969,232.
Clearly, buying shares of Apple would’ve been a phenomenal bet.
Of course, today a single share of Apple would cost more than $500.
Were it possible to turn back time, I’d create a to-do list that would include investing in the little computer company that could. But then again, so would buying one of the magnificent Brooklyn brownstone mansions in Park Slope or Greenpoint — or perhaps my favorite Clinton Hill mansion.
I’m no stock market whiz, but I do know there is no such thing as a sure thing. (If you know of one, please let me know!) So, absent a time machine I would still opt what Warren Buffett would do and bet on housing.
