New Map Shows Gravesend Real Estate Is An Anomaly

Don’t judge Brooklyn by the glamorous homes in Gravesend.

A 3D map in Medium illustrates how one corner of Gravesend literally towers over the rest of the rest of the borough when it comes to real estate prices, a phenomenon we’ve written about before. Constantine Valhouli has mapped out average housing sale prices for the city’s 325 neighborhoods based on data from sites like Trulia, StreetEasy and Zillow, demonstrating that homes in many parts of the city are actually quite affordable.

The data shows a concentration of expensive homes in the southeast section of Gravesend, a Sephardic enclave, which makes for a dramatic visual:

One of the most surprising bits of data was the Syrian orthodox enclave within Gravesend. While Gravesend averages $470/sq.ft., the section between Avenues S and U, averages $2,000 per square foot. Houses sell for $10–12M, putting it among the most expensive neighborhoods of the city by median price. (And if one simply averaged the entire neighborhood, this interesting enclave wouldn’t be visible. At a time when developers and brokers are creating unnecessary new neighborhood names to promote emerging areas (the cringeworthy “ProCro” and “Bedwick” come to mind), this area constitutes such a different market that it actually merits a different name.

Take those figures with a grain of salt, though. In 2012, we wrote about one $14 million Gravesend palace that won the title of priciest pad in Brooklyn, but then it mysteriously dropped a couple million dollars a few months later.

Gravesend aside, potential homebuyers would be well-served to look at houses in Southern Brooklyn. Though the article doesn’t list numbers for every neighborhood, Coney Island, Bath Beach, and Fort Hamilton are notably three of the most sunken areas on the map. Meanwhile, homes in Bensonhurst and Sheepshead Bay appear to be slightly cheaper than those in the majority of Gravesend, which average $470 per square foot.

Here’s closer view: