The real estate market in Queens is a fluctuating one; it is defined by characteristically high housing prices — both when purchasing and when renting. A close evaluation of the past year reveals characteristic trends when it comes to housing prices, demand for housing, housing quality, and specific locations within Queens.
Housing prices
According to statistics, the median home value in Queens is around $630,512. About 29.2 percent of all homes available in Queens fetch at this medium average price. A large percentage of other home prices fall below the median value and range between $120,000 and $500,000. Between 2017 and 2018, home prices rose by about 10 percent. This trend is highly unlikely to stop as we move into 2020.
Prominent home buyers
With demand for properties in Queens on the rise, most of the home buyers within the area are working millennials in the middle and upper classes. This working class of millennials keeps the housing market in Queens on the move by obtaining financing from mortgages. With the purchasing price quite high, the housing market in Queens is relatively dynamic as fueled by high demand and stable purchasing power.
Housing conditions
In Queens, most of the properties — about 50 percent — were constructed between 1940 and 1969. Only about 6.4 percent of the houses were constructed after 2000 while 31 percent of them are older than 1939.
With the majority of the houses in the area quite old, homeowners in Queens prefer renovating their houses in order to maintain their value with time, especially during selling. Further, 40.6 percent of the houses available in Queens are apartment complexes while 19 percent are single-family houses. A large portion of the houses, over 32 percent, are two bedroom houses.
Popular locations in Queens
The housing market in Queens is subdivided into various regions, each of which offers characteristics that are different from the other areas in terms of demand for houses. Some of the areas that have become quite popular over the last year include South Jamaica, Howard Beach, and Ozone Park estates.
There has been observed a trend whereby homeowners within Jamaica are moving out and preferring other locations for convenience purposes. Other regions that are quite expensive and thus unfavorable include Oakland Gardens, Murray Hill, and Auburndale, where demand is substantially low due to exorbitantly high housing prices.