FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com OCTOBER 6, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 11 Queens is ninth most expensive county in US to live in By Emily Davenport [email protected]/@QNS It’s no secret that it’s expensive to live in New York City. However, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, Queens has officially broken the top 10 most expensive counties to live in, sitting comfortably at spot number nine on that list. ATTOM Data Solutions, the country’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, released its Q3 2016 Home Affordability Index last week that sheds some light on why Queens is so expensive. ATTOM Data Solutions’ quarterly reports rank counties on a scale of affordability based on comparing people’s incomes with market rate housing and closing costs. According to the MarketWatch, which first reported on ATTOM’s report findings, “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says a maximum of 30 percent of your income should be spent on housing or you risk having ‘difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.’” The report indicates that the average person in Queens has to pay a whopping 83.7 percent of their income to be able to buy median housing throughout the borough. So why is it becoming more expensive to live in Queens? According to MarketWatch, many people looking to move are being priced out of other counties such as Manhattan (which sits at the number four spot on the list) and Brooklyn (which is officially the most expensive place to live based on this report) and are settling down in Queens, thus pushing the prices up. However, wages aren’t increasing to support the new increase in home prices throughout the county, making Queens less affordable. Queens has officially broken the top 10 list of most expensive places to live, report says. Part of the reason why housing has become so expensive in Queens (and in other counties) is that closing costs have gone through the roof when you’re buying a house in this borough. According to the report, when you reach the closing table at the end of your house hunt, you could be spending an average of $15,908 in closing costs. This averages out to be 32 percent of a Photo: Wikiepdia Creative Commons/Jleon Queens resident’s annual wages. On the bright side, Queens doesn’t stand alone in this department. ATTOM’s report found that the markets with the highest closing costs were all from New York; Brooklyn and Manhattan round out the top of the list at 47.2 percent and 42.6 percent respectively, and the Bronx and Suffolk County round out the bottom at 21 percent. Great rates like ours are always in season. 1.25% 18-Month CD APY1 $5,000 minimum deposit To qualify you must open a Flushing Bank Complete Checking Plus account. Get the complete access and control you desire with a competitive interest rate and banking on-the-go with our Flushing Bank Mobile2 app. For more information and to fi nd out about our other great offers, visit your local Flushing Bank branch, call 800.581.2889 or visit www.FlushingBank.com. 1 New money only. APY effective July 5, 2016. Annual percentage yield assumes principal and interest remain on deposit for a full year at current rate. Minimum deposit balance of $5,000 is required. Funds cannot be transferred from an existing Flushing Bank account. Premature withdrawals may be subject to bank and IRS penalties. Rates and offer are subject to change without notice. A new Complete Checking Plus account with a $5,000 minimum initial deposit is required to receive the CD with the advertised rate. Certain fees and restrictions may apply. For new IRA and rollover accounts, the minimum deposit balance is $5,000. A new checking account is not required for IRA accounts. Speak with a Flushing Bank representative for more details. 2 Flushing Bank Mobile Banking is available to all Flushing Bank online banking users. Flushing Bank is a registered trademark
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