ASTORIA — The neighborhood's median home price hit its priciest point ever in 2015, a new report found — driven by low inventory and a surge in demand, experts say.
The median sales price of Astoria's single family homes, condos and co-ops this year was $551,000, according to data released by the real estate website PropertyShark.com, an all-time high for the neighborhood and a 17 percent jump since 2014.
It was also higher than the median sales price in the borough of Queens overall, which was $360,000 this year, the report found.
"The competition here is fierce right now," said George Halvatzis, who runs Halvatzis Realty on Ditmars Bouelvard and has been selling homes in the neighborhood for more than 30 years.
Astoria properties were snatched up quickly in 2015. More than a dozen homes were sold within a half hour of hitting the market this year, he said.
"There's very low inventory, there's very high demand, and also you're getting a trickle of people coming in that are discovering Astoria," he said.
The cutthroat market has been spurred by low interest rates, Halvatzis said. Buyers see the neighborhood as a cheaper alternative to Manhattan and trendy parts of Brooklyn, and are looking for an easy commute.
"Our proximity to Manhattan has always been the draw," he said.
The number of homes sold in Astoria was up in 2015 compared to last year, with 267 sales compared to 250 in 2014, the PropertyShark report found.
The Ditmars-Steinway region was the priciest area to buy — and the fifth most expensive neighborhood in Queens overall — with a median home price of $794,500 this year, according to the data.
But the most expensive individual home sale in Astoria in 2015 was a one-story building on 28th Road off of 31st Street that sold for $3 million in March, the report found.
