The housing market in Queens has been hot for some time, and it figures to stay that way in 2016.
StreetEasy, a blog that reports on real estate trends and data, released its “2016 New York City Housing Market Trends,” which projected that housing in the “World’s Borough” will remain in high demand in the new year.
Alan Lightfeldt, a data scientist at StreetEasy, predicts that five of the city’s top 10 “hottest neighborhoods” in 2016 will be in Queens. Topping that list is Jamaica. Factors that place the neighborhood in the number one spot include low prices, easy access to the subway and Long Island Rail Road, a “healthy growth in population since 2011” and a growth in interest among renters and buyers.
“Strong competition in Manhattan and the Prospect Park submarket of Brooklyn may push more buyers to Queens, but there is a pull factor as well,” Lightfeldt said in his analysis. “Relatively lower prices, easy access to large job centers in Midtown Manhattan and Long Island City, and more living space for families will pull more New York buyers and renters towards Queens in 2016.”
Queens will also see the largest “cooling in price growth” of all the boroughs next year. While rent growth was at 6.6 percent in 2015, next year, prices will only grow by 4.5 percent. For home sales, the price growth will be 1.8 percent in 2016 compared to 6.3 percent this year.
Jamaica Estates is the fourth hottest neighborhood on the list, followed by Woodside. Elmhurst and Kew Gardens Hills round out the list at eight and 10 respectively.
The list was calculated using the StreetEasy Hot Market Index, which analyzes four key indicators: annual change in sales price, annual change in rent price, recent population growth and annual change in StreetEasy page views per listing.
“Demand and value continue to rise in Queens,” said Borough President Melinda Katz. “It is of no surprise that Queens’ neighborhoods will lead among the city’s hottest markets. The strong growth is a testament to the borough’s appeal, especially for families. While the growth is necessary and encouraged, the challenge for government will be to aggressively expand affordable housing stock to meet the ever-growing demand. When we do, however, it must be done right.”
