The real estate listing site StreetEasy analyzed the data for Manhattan and Brooklyn residential properties and came up with a “tipping point,” metric, which measures the number of years it would take for the cost of owning a home to equal the cost of renting within a neighborhood.
Manhattan had a median “tipping point” of 9.2 years while Brooklyn had a tipping point of 3.6 years, according to the analysis.
The measure varies significantly between neighborhoods, from over 30 years for Battery Park and midtown to 1.6 years for Inwood.
“If you’re struggling to rent in a neighborhood where you’re hoping to buy one day, you may be better off pinching pennies in a neighborhood that better fits your budget,” where buying is more realistic, StreetEasy economist Krishna Rao said in a statement.
Inwood has some of Manhattan’s lowest rents, with a median of $1,800. The median sales price of $453,000 is nearly half a million dollars less than the median price for the borough as a whole.
In Brooklyn, Fort Greene had the lowest tipping point with 2.6 years. The neighborhood’s median asking rent is $2,995 and its median sales price is $682,720, on par with the borough averages, but StreetEasy said their analysis shows that residents have a better shot at becoming homeowners there sooner rather than later.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said 9.2 years was Manhattan’s average “tipping point.” 9.2 years is the median “tipping point,” not the average.
