These Are NYC's Best Neighborhoods For 1st-Time Homebuyers: Study

NEW YORK CITY — First-time homebuyers could still come out ahead in New York City's topsy-turvy, coronavirus-era real estate market, a new study says.

StreetEasy this week released a study — "The 10 Best NYC Neighborhoods for First-Time Buyers in 2021" — detailing pockets of affordability in the city.

Most neighborhoods in the city unsurprisingly fall far beyond what most homebuyers would consider "affordable." The study found it would take 27 years for a homebuyer who saves 10 percent of their income to be able to afford the median price — $949,000 — of a home in the city.

"The median asking price of all the homes we considered affordable in these 10 neighborhoods is $352,780," the study states.

Sheepshead Bay ranked first on the list, followed by Forest Hills.
Queens had four neighborhoods on the list, compared to Brooklyn's three.

Surprisingly, Manhattan had a strong showing.

Midtown East and the Upper East Side ranked 5 and 6 on the list. The study noted that only a sliver of homes in those mostly posh areas are affordable, but there are still hundreds of affordable options.

"Only 5% of Upper East Side homes qualified as affordable in our analysis. And in Midtown East, 9% of homes qualified," the study states. "Yet both of these areas have options for budget-minded buyers, in large part because of their size."

The complete list of neighborhoods is:

1. Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
2. Forest Hills, Queens
3. Riverdale, Bronx
4. Jackson Heights, Queens
5. Midtown East, Manhattan
6. Upper East Side, Manhattan (new this year)
7. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
8. Flushing, Queens (new this year)
9. Rego Park, Queens
10. Midwood, Brooklyn

Read more about the study here.