Manhattan suburbs see bump in prices

Suburban communities near Manhattan have seen prices rise as city dwellers are looking for housing bargains, and the stabilization of the economy is helping to drive sales and boost prices in these neighborhoods, the Wall Street Journal reported. Places like Milburn, New Jersey, and Great Neck on Long Island, which have easy Manhattan commutes and offer good schools, are doing better than the regional housing market, brokers said. According to Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation Group, a New Jersey appraisal firm, New Jersey towns with short, direct train rides to Manhattan outperformed the rest of the state during the first half of the year. “We have seen the effects of the Manhattan rebound in the market we describe as Midtown Direct,” he said. The price increase in the suburbs also reflects the rising prices of sales in Manhattan during the past few quarters. In the towns in Westchester nearest to New York City, median prices are up 14 percent this year, and are only 3 percent below the market peak in 2006, according to Houlihan Lawrence, a brokerage firm in Westchester County. [WSJ]