More good news for city housing prices

New York City home sales prices inched upward, while sales activity blossomed in the second quarter of 2011, according to a report released today by the Real Estate Board of New York.

Sales activity increased 10 percent from the first quarter of 2011, but is down four percent from the same period a year ago due to “unseasonable fluctuations” caused by the looming expiration of the homebuyer’s tax credit, according to Steve Spinola, REBNY’s president. Meanwhile, sales prices increased 2 percent from last quarter and 3 percent from the same period a year ago. In the second quarter “we saw a return to normal cyclical market patterns,” Spinola said. “I am optimistic that sales and values will continue to increase over the next few quarters, albeit slowly.”

The Upper East Side led all city neighborhoods with 687 sales, according to the report. The entire borough of Brooklyn had a strong quarter, as home prices increased 6 percent from a year ago, and activity skyrocketed in Williamsburg where condominium sales rose 16 percent from the prior quarter, and nearly 250 percent form the same period a year ago. According to market data from the Corcoran Group, the Edge, Two Northside Pier and 80 Metropolitan were responsible for much of that activity. Queens, however, was a different story. As recent market report data from the city’s two biggest brokerages show, the borough suffered a decrease in home values from the same period a year ago. — Adam Fusfeld