OuterB on Queens Real Estate

Back at the end of September, the Post ran an article about the cost of real estate in the outer boroughs. I mentioned it on the Weekly Hot Links

of that week, but wanted to take another look. In Queens, Jackson Heights gets mentioned, as well as Astoria.

Jackson Heights seems to be the hotter of the two neighborhoods, as far as the news outlets go. And for good reason - there really are affordable apartments in good locations, not to mention great restaurants and a beautiful historic district. I have friends who moved from Astoria/Ditmars to Jackson Heights, and they are very happy there, even though they loved living in Astoria.

So why did they move? Well, they wanted to buy, and were priced out of Astoria. Both are classical musicians - teachers and performers - and were able to afford a unit in a co-op in Jackson Heights.

Now, Astoria is a place dear to me. I live here, love it here. But rents have gone up and it’s certainly more expensive to buy. I may very well be priced out at some point. One quote in the article, by The Corcoran Group’s Adrianno Hultmann, popped out at me:

“The people who live in Astoria want to stay in Astoria, so you have a large pool of renters just waiting for the right time to buy.”

I totally agree that there are many who want to buy, and are waiting it out, hoping for prices to come down at least a bit. I’ve spoken to and heard many in my community voice this. However, it flies in the face of those who believe Astoria has turned into a “transient” (an ugly phrase) neighborhood. I believe a lot of people want to stay and become part of the fabric of Astoria, despite the naysayers.

Hultmann is also involved with the new eight-unit Hoyt Terrace development in Astoria on 23rd Street near 25th Avenue (so, close to Astoria Park), where he has seen studios start for under $300K. I’ll be heading over there tonight to view the building and units, and will report back.

• Deal or No Deal

  [NY Post]

Related:
Affordable Apartments For Sale in Jackson Heights and Forest Hills

Photo credit:  John Roleke 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Queens Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.