Home prices in Astoria hit record high

From left: Eric Benaim and Astoria
From left: Eric Benaim and Astoria

Astoria home prices are starting to look a lot like Brooklyn’s.

Once considered a prime spot for young families, homes in the Queens neighborhood are becoming more expensive, according to a report by real estate firm Modern Spaces. The average price of one-bedroom condos in the Queens neighborhood surpassed $400,000 for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from $388,000 the year before.

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One single-family home is on the market for $750,000, which Amorelli Realty broker Paul Halvatzis told the New York Daily News would have sold for a half million three years ago.

“The market, which was at one time available to all middle-class people, is no longer there,” Halvatzis said to the Daily News. “The average couple — unless they’re coming with a substantial down payment, excellent credit and good income — can no longer buy a one-family home.”

The median price of an Astoria single family home is now $480,000, which is closer to Brooklyn’s median at $579,000 than Queens’ at $359,000, according to StreetEasy. Astoria’s growth rate is second in Queens only to Long Island City, said president of Modern Spaces Eric Benaim to the Daily News. [NYDN]Angela Hunt