The Real Deal New York

From the May issue: Crown Heights, a multicultural Brooklyn neighborhood with stunning architecture but a troubled history, is showing the impact of the recession in stalled residential sales, boarded-up homes and commercial vacancies popping up with increasing frequency in recent months. While the area continues to beckon bargain hunters eager for deals on brownstones, many of those would-be buyers now struggle to get mortgages. In the first quarter of this year, the total number of sales for houses, co-ops and condominiums in Crown Heights dropped to 40, compared to 75 sales for the same period in 2008, according to data from Streeteasy.com. The average price for a Crown Heights home dropped nearly 27 percent, from $493,700 in the first quarter of last year, to $363,114 in the first quarter of 2009.