Stretching Out the Bucks in Brooklyn

Those seeking a Brooklyn abode on a budget are doing so in the borough's far south and east corners, The Observer is reporting. "In the second quarter of 2008, the median home sales price for Brooklyn was $525,000 ... of the 3,766 homes sold under $525,000 in Brooklyn so far this year nearly half are within the 10 neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay, Kensington, Flatbush, Gravesend, East New York, Clinton Hill, Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg and Park Slope." Sheepshead Bay is noted as seeing a dramatic increase amongst first-time home buyers. Another area, which recently got the Times treatment, is Kensington--where one couple in their 30s purchased a 3-bdrm postwar co-op for $313,000 in 2004. Today it would likely go for around $500K. With the economy as it is now, however, one broker noted that it's unlikely you'll see a boom with property values rising in places like Flatbush and East New York any time soon. (Photo cred: missapril1956)