How High Can Ditmas Park Home Prices Go?

This is a guest column written by Mary Kay Seery, a local licensed real estate agent with Brown Harris Stevens.

Ditmas Park area homes have been commanding unprecedented sale prices – some homeowners are starting to wonder when the $3 million ceiling will crack. So, how high can home values go in our quiet, still mostly off-the-grid community?

According to the Brownstoner Sales Report as of January 15, Ditmas Park property is selling for an average price per square foot of $487 (it has bounced around between $500-$600 over the past several months). But when you look at the costs per square foot in neighborhoods like Williamsburg ($1237), Park Slope ($1015), Gowanus ($1033), Clinton Hill ($938), and Prospect Heights ($1157); Ditmas Park looks seriously undervalued.

In fact, Ditmas Park is more closely aligned with the average price per square foot in neighborhoods like Crown Heights ($591) and Bushwick ($562). Which doesn’t seem to make sense given great transportation options, tree-lined streets, driveways, and spacious yards. At that average, a 4,000 square foot house sells for $2 million, but a well-maintained or recently renovated home should be a different story. If $500 per square foot is the average, it’s logical that a beautifully maintained home could fetch significantly more; at just $750 per square foot, that 4,000 square foot home sells for $3 million.

Azad Ali, a Ditmas Park resident and developer for the past 28 years in the New York and Florida markets, has bought homes in the neighborhood for as little as $150,000, realizing big profits from resale.

“I have sold homes for as little as $400,000 to a whopping $2,625,000 [for] my most recent sale on Albemarle Road, which is the highest sale price recorded in the neighborhood to date,” said Azad. “I see prices well below where they should be compared to other neighborhoods, leaving room for tremendous upside. My projection is that prices we are seeing could easily double in the next 5-10 years as they adjust to catch up with prices already realized in other neighborhoods.”

Factor in that a house in the neighborhood will often feature a front porch, driveway, garage, and yard, area homes deliver a lot of added value for that $500 price per square foot.

“I purchased my home in Prospect Park South in 2013, when some homes were just starting to inch over $2 million,” says architect and Westminster Road resident Steve Tannenbaum. “But the houses selling now are mostly un-renovated, which I think accounts for them still being undervalued. I wonder what will happen to prices when some of the well-renovated homes start to sell.”

Many factors dictate the selling price, but right now, with very few houses for sale, a well maintained property in Ditmas Park has tremendous potential.