New York City home prices soar in 2012: Report

Home sales in the city surged in the last year and helped the Big Apple real estate market completely rebound from the housing crisis, a report has found.

The Real Estate Board of New York, a trade association, said in its residential data report Thursday that the average sales price for properties in the five boroughs increased by 1% from $780,000 in the third quarter of 2011 to $786,000 during the same period this year.

There were 10,963 properties sold in the third quarter 2012, a 6% increase from 2011.

For most parts of the city, especially in Brooklyn and Queens, the sales increase marked the highest prices since 2007, when they had reached their peak, according to Steven Spinola the president of the REBNY.

"The slow, steady and consistent improvement in the market continues to provide strong evidence that the New York City residential sales market has made it out of the woods and should only continue to improve," he said in a statement.

Four years ago, the foreclosure meltdown caused average sales prices for all five boroughs to dip to $669,000.

Manhattan led the five boroughs with an average price of $1.370 million, despite a slight drop in the average value, in the third quarter of 2012 for condos and co-ops, according to the report.

The nabe with the biggest spike in values was Morningside Heights, who's average sale price rose 474% to nearly $1.5 million.

Seth Hirschhorn, the senior managing director of the real estate group CitiHabitats, said foreign investors are more confident in the New York market and have helped to make sales prices in many areas reach record highs.

He noted that 27 people arrived for a recent open house for a Gramercy apartment.

"They want to buy now because tomorrow is going to be more expensive,"Hirschorn said.

Brooklyn and Queens saw their sales prices grow to levels higher than 2007. The average sales price for homes in Brooklyn was $619,000 in the third quarter and Queens homes sold for an average of $411,000.

"The outer boroughs aren't a second choice anymore. [Buyers] want a little more space and they have a quick commute," Hirschhorn said.

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Homes in New York City are being sold at high rates for record prices. Here is a borough by borough breakdown.

Average SALES Price

Manhattan: $1,370,000
Brooklyn: $619,000
Staten Island: $422,000
Queens: $411,000
Bronx: $345,000

Number of SALES

Manhattan: 10,963
Queens: 3,103
Brooklyn: 2,763
Staten Island: 781
Bronx: 569