(credit: Gothamist)

The often-overlooked Gravesend neighborhood in Brooklyn was home to three of the borough’s five priciest sales last year, the New York Post reported.

“In Gravesend, the higher-end houses are absolutely selling,” broker Anthony Franzese of Weichert Realtors told the Post. “Now that there are loans for them again, the market has much more traction.” [more]

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 townhouse 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. … [more]