The Real Deal New York

From left: 451 Avenue S, 74 Hicks Street and 420 Avenue S (building credits: PropertyShark)

Despite hot new neighborhoods sprouting up in seemingly every corner of Brooklyn, Gravesend and Brooklyn Heights proved they were still the destination for the highest priced real estate in 2011, according to an analysis by Brownstoner. Of the five priciest sales in the borough this year, two were in the Heights and three in Gravesend. The most expensive sale was a 2,914-square-foot home at 451 Avenue S in Gravensed, that sold for $10.25 million in May. The price per square foot was likely the highest ever paid in the borough, according to Brownstoner, but the total amount still trailed the townhouse across the street at 450 Avenue S, which sold for $11 million in 2003. The next two most expensive sales recorded were each $6 million deals. The first was a 25-foot-wide Brooklyn Heights townhouse at 74 Hicks Street and the second a 2,697-square-foot single-family home at 420 Avenue S in Gravesend. A 5,800-square-foot townhouse at 69 Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights, which includes a ground-floor office, was the fourth priciest sale at $5.25 million, while the 2,400-square-foot single-family home at 1996 East 5th Street came in fifth, selling for $5.15 million. [Brownstoner]