BROOKLYN — If you’re looking to enter the housing market in New York City, odds are that the small, tony neighborhood of Cobble Hill is likely out of reach.
The 10 most affordable properties listed last month in Cobble Hill ranged from $455,000, for a 457-square-foot one-bedroom condo in the landmarked building at 431 Hicks St., to $1.475 million, for a 1,200-square-foot penthouse two-bedroom co-op at 121 Pacific St., according to data compiled by real-estate analytics firm NeighborhoodX.
“For compact neighborhoods with historic protections and restrictive zoning, there is often a limited inventory,” said NeighborhoodX co-founder Constantine Valhouli. “As a result, the 10 most affordable properties represent a larger portion of all the properties on the market at a given time — and as such will tend to range more broadly.”
In other words, the 10 most affordable units for Cobble Hill — a stately Brownstone Brooklyn area sandwiched between Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens — represent a big chunk of all of its units on the market. (The analysis excluded studios, since they tend to be less viable as long-term residences, as well as listing with income restrictions or those that cannot be purchased with conventional financing.)
“By contrast,” Valhouli noted, “a larger neighborhood like the Upper East Side may have over 1,000 listings active, so the 10 most affordable properties range from $399,000 to $539,000, representing a smaller portion of the overall price range.”
The analysis is part of an ongoing examining affordability and the bar for entry-level homes in major U.S. cities.
Compared to neighborhoods already analyzed, Cobble Hill’s most affordable listing fell between the Upper West Side’s (which was $439,000) and Crown Heights (which was $480,000), Valhouli said.
For listings in Cobble Hill where the square footage was available, the prices per square foot ranged from $853 to $1,229.
“It is worth noting that the lower end of these are the condos,” Valhouli said, “while the two most expensive on a per-square-foot basis are co-ops.”
A two-bedroom at 101 Warren St. — a 1,616-square foot two-bedroom condo asking $1.395 million — had the lowest price per square foot cost at $863. The two-bedroom 1,200-square-foot co-op at 121 Pacific St., asking $1.475 million, had the highest price per square foot at $1,229.
Condos tend to have a higher price per square foot because they are often newer construction or recent conversions, which usually means they have more amenities. There are also fewer condos than co-ops in the city, yet strong demand for condos since buyers often face less stringent restrictions when it comes to things like subletting policies.
Several of the Cobble Hill condos listed last month were actually older buildings, like 101 Warren, which is a conversion of a church built in 1858.
Cobble Hill isn’t expected to get more affordable any time soon.
The area is currently in the midst of a big, controversial project at the former Long Island College Hospital, which closed its doors two years ago. The site is slated to be redeveloped exclusively into luxury housing as the developer recently announced he will not include affordable housing since the site won’t be rezoned to allow for a larger building.
