Queens appreciation rates and housing market information

Queens housing market information

With 2,229,379 people, 817,250 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $476,647, real estate costs in Queens are among some of the highest in the nation, although house prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive New York communities.

large apartment complexes or high rise apartments are the single most common housing type in Queens, accounting for 39.42% of the borough's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Queens include duplexes, homes converted to apartments, or other small apartment buildings (29.63%), single-family detached homes (21.06%), and a few row houses and other attached homes (9.77%). Boroughs that are predominantly high-density buildings are relatively uncommon in the US. Because of the density, these types of boroughs are often walkable and compact, and often have a lively downtown.

People in Queens primarily live in small (one, two, or no bedroom) units, chiefly found in large apartment complexes or high rise apartments. Queens has a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.

At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Queens's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 57.22% of the borough's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Queens include homes built between 1939 and earlier (29.44%), and housing constructed from 1970-1994 (11.86%). There's also some housing in Queens built between 1995 and later (1.48%).

Queens home appreciation rates

In the last 10 years, Queens has experienced some of the highest home appreciation rates of any community in the nation. Queens real estate appreciated 113.03% over the last ten years, which is an average annual home appreciation rate of 11.30%, putting Queens in the top 10% nationally for real estate appreciation. If you are a home buyer or real estate investor, Queens definitely has a track record of being one of the best long term real estate investments in America through the last ten years.

Over the last year, Queens appreciation rates have trailed the rest of the nation. In the last twelve months, Queens's appreciation rate has been -6.48%, which is lower than appreciation rates in most communities in America. In the latest quarter, NeighborhoodScout's data show that house appreciation rates in Queens were at -1.26%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of -5.04%.

Notably, Queens's appreciation rate in the latest quarter is one of the lowest in America.

Relative to New York, our data show that Queens's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 25% of the other cities and towns in New York.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the borough. Individual neighborhoods within Queens differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Queens - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 1990, to assist you in making the best Queens real estate investment or home purchase decisions.