“No one can afford to buy in this town!” The lament echoes from couples on their couches and circles of friends at brunches searching for a foothold in a robust — at least below the $1 million mark — real estate market.
But first-time buyers should take heart. In a study out Thursday, researchers at listing site StreetEasy ranked the 10 neighborhoods across the city most affordable to New Yorkers ages 25 to 44 who earn the median annual income of $70,406.
In essence, where should prospective buyers who can afford a monthly outlay of $2,347 (which includes maintenance, taxes and common charges) look for their first homes?
The No. 1 choice: Forest Hills, a leafy Queens enclave 35 minutes by subway from Manhattan with Tudor-style apartment buildings and single-family homes.
It had the most listings (414, to be precise) that fell within the monthly spending range. Other nabes the study deemed affordable for first-time buyers were Riverdale in The Bronx, Sheepshead Bay, Bay Ridge, East Flatbush and Midwood in Brooklyn, and Jackson heights, Rego Park and Kew Gardens in Queens.
The only Manhattan neighborhood to crack the list was Midtown East, with 143 homes on the market that could be purchased given the price constraints.
The median price of all listings considered affordable for this buyer group across the 10 neighborhoods is $335,000, the study found. By contrast, the median price of a Manhattan apartment in the first quarter of 2019 was $1.07 million.
So there’s hope.