Midtown sees biggest price jump in borough for new development homes

The Manhattan neighborhood where prices for new development apartments saw the biggest jump was Midtown, where the median listing price for new development units was $1.58 million in March, up 12.8 percent year-over-year, according to Streeteasy.com’s March new development market report covering Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

Contract activity and median sales prices for homes in new developments in Manhattan and Brooklyn have increased significantly year-over-year. Manhattan new development units saw median listing prices climb by 9.1 percent last month, to $1.5 million from $1.33 million in March 2011, the report says. In Brooklyn, the median price was also up, 16.4 percent year-over-year, the same percentage increase as last month in that borough, to $697,000 from $599,000.

The priciest neighborhood across all boroughs again was the Upper West Side, where the median listing price was $3.25 million, up 0.5 percent on a price-per-square-foot basis year-over-year.

The total number of existing listings at new developments in Manhattan held steady between March 2011 and March 2012, though new listings were down — to 127 from 154 year-over-year. In Brooklyn, there were 8 percent fewer listings compared to March 2011, down to 538 last month.

New contracts were up in both boroughs, year-over-year, 24.5 percent to 137 in Manhattan, and 37 percent to 63 in Brooklyn.

Williamsburg was Brooklyn’s most expensive neighborhood, with a median listing price of $987,000, a 41.5 percent increase from last year at the same time, when the median was $697,495, the report says.

In Queens, activity and median prices in Long Island City were up, and new listings increased by 975 percent, to 43 from 4 in March of 2011. The number of contracts also skyrocketed, jumping 733 percent to 25 from 3 in March of last year. — Guelda Voien