The process of buying a home is never easy, and throwing the pandemic into the mix might make first-time homebuyers hesitant to look.
Yet StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu said that with the sheer number of homes on the market, low mortgage rates and stable prices, many decided that this was actually the best year to buy. While NYC isn’t quite known for its wide selections of affordable housing, StreetEasy’s new study explores the top 10 best NYC neighborhoods for first-time homebuyers. The list features four Queens neighborhoods.
Compared to the data StreetEasy pulled in 2019, eight of the 10 neighborhoods on the list are repeats.
During that year, Forest Hills ranked No. 1, and Kew Gardens was on the list, rather than newly added Flushing. The Upper East Side was the other new addition to the list this year.
According to Wu, these areas made their way onto the list because they both gained a lot more inventory in 2021. More inventory means there are more affordable homes to suit the budgets of first-time home buyers.
In their study, StreetEasy looked for homes that would be affordable to New Yorkers ages 25 to 44 who earn the city’s median annual income of $70,406. According to a recent StreetEasy survey, millennials make up the majority of first-time buyers in NYC, with the typical new buyer being 37 years old.
Queens is becoming the place to look when it comes to affordable housing. Just last month, StreetEasy came out with another study about how they predict the Queens real estate market will be the hottest in NYC come 2022 — or even as early as this fall.
The complete list of neighborhoods is below:
- Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
- Forest Hills, Queens
- Riverdale, Bronx
- Jackson Heights, Queens
- Midtown East, Manhattan
- Upper East Side, Manhattan
- Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
- Flushing, Queens
- Rego Park, Queens
- Midwood, Brooklyn
Whether you’re curious or seriously considering purchasing a home, buyers in New York definitely have the market dynamics working in their favor, and these 10 neighborhoods provide some context as to where pockets of affordable homes are.
