Third-quarter real-estate market reports for Brooklyn and Queens are out today, and they confirm the trend seen in Manhattan: Summer was hopping, relatively speaking, but that’s compared to a winter and spring of disconcerting discontent. The number of sales in Brooklyn jumped 29.3 percent from the previous quarter, from 1,428 to 1,847, but that’s still 19.6 percent off from the same time last year, when there were 2,298. Sales increased across the board, with co-ops, condos, and townhouses seeing more takers. Average and median prices both fell compared to 2008, but were up 7.9 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from the spring. As for Queens, transactions were up 31 percent from the prior quarter, though still down 13.9 percent from last year. Appraiser Jonathan Miller, whose firm, Miller Samuel, prepared these surveys for Prudential Douglas Elliman, writes by way of explanation: “The surge in activity provides evidence of increased confidence and improved affordability, but not a housing bottom due to future challenges of rising unemployment, tight credit and shadow inventory.”
