Manhattan median home growth tops nation

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Median housing values by county (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

Manhattan had the largest dollar increase in median housing values in the country between 2005 and 2009, new figures released Tuesday from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The median value jumped by $350,600 per home between 2005 and 2009 to $800,400, an increase of 78 percent.

It was not a surprise that Manhattan came out on top in the nation, said appraiser Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel.

“It says a lot of about how powerful the economic draw was for buyers in a market that was not characterized by investor speculation,” he said in an e-mail. “However, these results also reflect a pronounced shift in the sales mix towards larger units during the housing boom, especially by the surge in luxury new development.”

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The next highest increase by dollar was Falls Church, Va., which jumped by $328,800 per home, or 100 percent. The third highest increase was Monroe County, Fla. — where the Florida Keys are located — which saw an increase of $326,700 in median values, to $570,500. Monroe County’s 134 percent spike was the third highest percent jump in the nation, after two counties in Texas, the figures show.

The survey calculated the median values for homes in 3,225 counties in the United States in its American Community Survey, based on estimates gathered over the five-year period. The statistics are not related to the 10-year census. The government begins to release that data later this month. 

Manhattan had only the third highest median home value in the nation, however. Nantucket, Mass., had the highest, at $1 million, followed by Marin Country, Calif., at $880,000.

Brooklyn home values rose by $259,300, or 92 percent, to $547,200; Queens by $213,700, or 83 percent, to $470,500; Staten Island by $191,200, or 71 percent, to $461,000; and the Bronx by $140,700, or 61 percent, to $369,600.