MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS

THE BASICS: “Many buyers are affiliated with Columbia or St. Luke’s, or they’re families priced out of the downtown market who need the space,” says Barbara Good, Halstead Property senior vice-president. The area is also popular with first-time buyers, who come for the reasonably priced one-bedrooms: “A lot of Columbia students buy around here, or rather, their parents buy for them,” says Ann Guttman of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy.

WHAT’S NEW: There are few recent conversions in the area—not counting the twelve-story faculty-housing-and-prep-school complex Columbia is building on 110th Street and the post-doc housing that’s springing up at 103rd and Broadway. That said, you’ll find newly renovated, high-end co-ops in the Manhasset, the mansard-topped building that occupies an entire block of Broadway between 108th and 109th Streets, selling for top market prices.

BARGAIN HUNTING: To find the best deals, head east of Broadway and west of Central Park West. You can also score in the non-doorman buildings from 121st to 123rd Streets.

HOT SPOTS: On Amsterdam Avenue, Max Soha serves up old-school Italian. For French-Caribbean, head to A Café on Columbus Avenue. Silver Moon Bakery is the local go-to for tarts and other buttery treats. If you like your music loud, the Ding Dong Lounge on Columbus Avenue features live punk.

PREDICTION: This area, newly colonized by Upper West Siders escaping to the north, felt last year’s drop-off. But one-bedrooms are selling well, says Guttman. (Must be all those Columbia grads.) Riverside Drive’s big prewar buildings with views of the Hudson tend to hold their value best. Columbia’s incentives for staff to move toward Harlem may boost prices to the east.