REAL ESTATE
Check out the Queens neighborhoods where buying instead of renting a home pays off
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Th e decision to either buy a home or
rent is a diffi cult one in Queens, where
prices seem to be rising every year.
But a new report shows that in several
Queens neighborhoods, it may be more
benefi cial to purchase a home. StreetEasy,
a real estate website, calculated the tipping
Photo via Shutterstock
Buying a home beats renting in several Queens neighborhoods.
Sales in Queens HOMES COOPS CONDOS Listings and photos courtesy MLSLI
NORTHEAST NORTHWEST SOUTHEAST SOUTHWEST
BAYSIDE WOODSIDE QUEENS VILLAGE WOODHAVEN
Under $500,000
26-15 Parsons Blvd., Flushing
$299,000
Co-op
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Kulbhushan Mangal
Douglas Elliman Real Estate
$500,000-900,000
120-28 Riviera Ct., College Point
$868,000
Condo
3 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms
Lai Kim Teng
E Realty International Corp.
Over $900,000
220-06 46th Ave., Bayside
$1,398,000
Mansion
5 bedrooms, 2 full-baths, 2 half-baths
Li Bai
East Coast Realtors
Under $500,000
35-02 72nd St., Jackson Heights
$425,000
Co-op
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Daniel Karatzas
Beaudoin Realty Group
$500,000-900,000
69-19 49th Ave., Woodside
$798,888
2-family contemporary
4 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms
Stalin Caso
Area Realty of NY
Over $900,000
23-11 21st Ave., Astoria
$1,080,000
Condo
2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Joseph Bencivenga
Keller Williams Landmark II Realty
Under $500,000
225-27 107th Ave., Queens Village
$469,998
1-family Colonial
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Charlotte Lewitin
Sailing Home Realty Corp.
$500,000-900,000
159-11 88th Ave., Jamaica
$729,000
2-family Colonial
4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Bushra Alzubaidi
Guidance Realty Homes
Over $900,000
85-51 215th St., Hollis Hills
$1,319,000
1-family Colonial
4 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms
Julia Shildkret
Julia Shildkret Real Estate
Under $500,000
163-45 Cross Bay Blvd., Howard Beach
$185,000
Houseboat
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Uri Barkai
Charles Rutenberg Realty
$500,000-900,000
61-15 97th St., Rego Park
$648,888
Co-op
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Marjorie Tornatore
Douglas Elliman Real Estate
Over $900,000
87-17 94th St., Woodhaven
$949,000
2-family Colonial
6 bedrooms, 3 ½ bathrooms
John Chetram
Monticello Real Estate Group
point – the point in time in which
the benefi ts of owning a home exceed the
benefi ts of renting that same home – for
neighborhoods in every borough.
Th e World’s Borough is home to neighborhoods
with some of the shortest tipping
points in New York City, which is
good news for people interested in buying
a home. In Queens, residents would
need to live in their home for 2.7 years
before their purchase would pay off . Th e
tipping point in Manhattan is 7.7 years,
more than double the national median
of 2.1 years.
StreetEasy created a tool for users to
calculate their own tipping points based
on their apartment size and the neighborhood
they’re interested in owning a
home in.
Th e top 10 Queens neighborhoods with
the shortest tipping point are as follows:
Corona – 1.2 years
Kew Gardens Hills – 1.2 years
Woodhaven – 1.2 years
Briarwood – 1.3 years
Kew Gardens – 1.5 years
Rego Park – 1.9 years
Forest Hills – 2.1 years
Woodside – 2.1 years
Rockaway – 2.3 years
Sunnyside – 2.3 years
Neighborhoods where it may be more
benefi cial to rent than to own include
Flushing, where the tipping point is 30
years and Long Island City, where the tipping
point is 26.7 years.
To calculate the tipping point of renting
versus owning a home, senior economist
Grant Long took several factors
into account.
Th e costs of home ownership
include mortgage principal and
interest; federal, state and city taxes;
homeowner’s insurance; projected
closing costs; and maintenance fees
and common charges as listed on
StreetEasy.
For renting, the costs include brokers’
fees, renters insurance and
monthly rent. He then conducted a
cost-benefi t analysis between the two
to determine the “earliest point in
time at which the net present value of
owning a home exceeds the net present
value of renting.”
StreetEasy does warn that the tipping
point in every borough is increasingly on
the rise. Home prices and mortgage rates
are rising, while rents are falling, Long
argues. Th e tipping point in Queens is up
seven months since last year and the tipping
point in New York City is 5.6 years,
which refl ects a one-year increase since
2016.
“For New Yorkers not planning to
spend more than 5.5 years in their new
home, renting is, on average, a more
attractive fi nancial choice,” the study
reads.