Forbes: SoHo, TriBeCa among top ZIP codes

When it comes to pricey real estate, downtown is boomtown.

New York City's priciest homes are now in SoHo and TriBeCa -- ranking sixth and seventh, respectively -- overtaking the West Village, Upper East Side and Upper West Side, according to Forbes magazine's annual list of the country's richest ZIP codes released Wednesday.

Those neighborhoods bucked the nationwide trend of falling home sale prices, as did the Upper West Side, which saw a 53-percent rise in values, putting it 11th on the list.

Gary Malin, president of Manhattan-based real estate broker Citi Habitats, said he expects home values in SoHo and TriBeCa, along with properties in the Financial District and Battery Park City, to continue to go up.

"The vast majority of customers who pick up the phone and call us, ask to live downtown if they can afford it," Malin said.

"The type of offering down there is distinct -- like large, often loft spaces that don't exist in other places," he said.

Alpine, N.J., was No. 1 in the nation, with an average home going for $4.55 million.

Forbes reporter Morgan Brennan, who compiled the list, said she was surprised the downtown neighborhoods overtook those traditionally at the top. She attributed the high ranking to demand created by the dearth of buildings available combined with the number of those newly renovated. She said many of the newer homes were old commercial properties converted into luxury units.

The average prices of homes in those areas went up, while the rest of the country saw an average drop of about 2 percent. West Village and Upper East Side residences have been going at a discount of 40 percent and 63 percent, respectively, according to the data compiled by Altos Research.

Despite the decreases, "the housing market as a whole has seen a lot of stabilization," Altos chief executive Michael Simonsen said, noting that he had seen much larger decreases in home price tags in recent years.