Gentrification apparently made its way to the Bronx, at last.
Some working-class areas of New York City’s northernmost borough are experiencing a notable increase in house prices, possibly paving the way for Williamsbridge and Bedford Park to follow the example of already hyper-gentrified Brooklyn districts like Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
According to an annual “Housing Risk Chart” issued on Wednesday by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, the median price of a property in the Bronx’s two multi-ethnic areas increased by roughly 36% over the previous two years – the biggest rise anywhere in the Big Apple.
The annual analysis also revealed that sale prices per square foot increased by 20% or more in University Heights, Fordham, Belmont, and East Tremont, giving these areas – some of the city’s poorest – a tie with Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, Fort Greene, and Greenpoint for the highest rates of growth in the five boroughs.
Online listings indicate that the price of a Kingsbridge Terrace house that sold for less than $600,000 in 2021 has increased to $965,000. Another house on Valentine Avenue is listed for $549,000, which is more than twice what the owners paid for it in 2009 – as reported by Gothamist.
Alarmingly, the city’s most recent housing study shows that rents are soaring everywhere and affordable apartments are disappearing all across the five boroughs. This, in turn, drives longstanding residents to move further north because they can no longer afford housing, affecting primarily ethnic minorities who had already been forced to leave Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Legislation that would impose a “flip tax” on properties acquired and swiftly resold in particular low-income neighborhoods is being supported by some state legislators. Many residents, however, fear it may be too late to stop the domino effect.
