Astoria, Queens, is primed to have a big 2016.
The neighborhood often referred to as the most diverse city in the U.S., once again stood out from the crowd in Queens, seeing big increases in sales while the rest of the borough levelled out in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The average price per square foot began to surpass $1,300 in the fourth quarter, compared to closed third quarter sales, which averaged at $924 psf.
Rental prices in Astoria followed suit, with the average price increasing from $2,700 in Q3 to $2,962 in Q4.
According to a market report from brokerage firm, Modern Spaces, Queens rental prices overall fell slightly in Q4, and are expected to level out this year due to an increase in inventory.
Long Island City, which has been the most active area of Queens for new development, experienced decreases in the fourth quarter.
Average rent in LIC experienced a drop from the third quarter, averaging $3,031 in the fourth quarter, down from $3,123. The average price per square foot also decreased from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, dropping to $1,039 from $1,088.
However, condo inventory in Queens is on the rise and in demand, and demand is expected to outweigh supply, while prices will surpass $1,300 psf.
Sales prices have remained the same in all neighborhoods studied in the report, with the exception of LIC, which actually decreased by 3.5 percent.
According to Douglas Elliman’s 4Q market report for sales in Northwest Queens, overall sales activity surged in the area year-over-year.
There were 232 sales in the fourth quarter, a 45.9 percent increase from Q4 2014. The neighborhoods tracked are Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, and Woodside. All four showed large gains in sales activity.
The median sales price for Northwest Queens increased 2.6 percent in the 4Q, to $595,000, since the same time last year, while median sales price for the overall market in Sunnyside jumped 14 percent – marking the largest year-over-year gain for a neighborhood in the region.
In Woodside, median sales price fell 13.7 percent, marking the largest year-over-year decline.
