Bed-Stuy, buy or die? Home values don’t bode well for renters

Neighborhood saw 194 percent increase in home values since 2004

Brownstones in the Bedford Stuyvesant area
Brownstones in the Bedford Stuyvesant area

Sorry renters — gentrification in Bedford-Stuyvesant is not on your side.

That’s according to an analysis by the Washington Post, which shows that median income and median home values in the neighborhood are on very different tracks. The most recent census data shows the former at $44,000 a year, while the latter has exceeded $1 million. The median rental rate in Bed-Stuy during the first quarter of 2016, according to StreetEasy, checked in at nearly $2,300 a month, a 4.5 percent year-over-year increase.

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The trend benefits longtime homeowners, at least in terms of property value. The neighborhood saw a 194 percent increase in single-family home values since 2004, the biggest jump among 300 of the largest metro areas in the country, the newspaper reported. In second place was downtown Austin, Texas, which saw a 172 percent increase. North Portland followed in third place with a 118 percent increase. Meanwhile, the national average for home value increases was 14 percent.

So millennials, that amorphous generation of selfie takers and serial renters, will need deep pockets to keep up with the market. [Washington Post]— Kathryn Brenzel

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