By Dennis Holt
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — Two prestigious reports issued last week show that Brooklyn residential sales volumes have continued to increase every quarter so far this year. And in the third quarter, average and median sales prices increased.

Although everything trails the radically high sales numbers of 2007 and 2008, the trend lines continue to go up this year, suggesting somewhat of a return to normalcy. (Still, defining “normalcy� in this context is problematic, because of the unusual patterns of the past few years.)

The two reports were issued by Prudential Douglas Elliman and the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).

In the Prudential report, Brooklyn home sales shot up from about $70 million in the second quarter to more than $100 million in the last period, while the number of sales moved up to 1,847 from 1,428. The report stated that the “increase in median sales price from the prior quarter caused by the increase level of sales is the first increase after seven consecutive quarterly declines.�

Sales volume increased for every residential category in the last quarter — condos, co-ops, and houses. Condo sales were $25.2 million; co-op sales were at $16.5 million; and sales of one- to three-family houses — always the largest component — were up to $58.7 million.

The median sales price for condos increased by 4.5 percent, or almost $20,000 a unit, with new condo sales being half of the total. (This percentage can expect to increase as the city’s economy continues to improve over the next year.)

As could be expected, more than 70 percent of all residential sales in North Brooklyn, or Williamsburg and Greenpoint, were condo sales.

The co-op market continued to be the lowest performer of the three, but showed progress in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. The number of units sold increased by 100 units to 440. The number of individual houses sold in the third quarter over the second quarter increased by 228 to 944, with the average sales price being $53,000 more.

The REBNY report notes that all year long, the number of houses sold in traditional one- to three-family areas increased. These areas include Gravesend-Mapleton, Marine Park-Madison and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

In the condo market, the average sales price in Park Slope, the traditional Brooklyn leader, was $716,000, an increase of 14 percent over the third quarter of 2008.

In the Brooklyn luxury segment (the upper 10 percent of condo units, co-op units and one- to three-family homes) the average sales price increased by almost $200,000 in the third quarter over the second quarter. The number of sales went up from 142 to 184.

What can’t be included on reports about the past is speculation on the future, but some analysts believe the luxury Brooklyn condo market, especially in the Downtown area, will increase significantly in the next 12 months. This is partly based on forecasts that the Wall Street community, which always influences Brooklyn sales, will experience higher salary levels and bonuses.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009 All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States copyright law. Just a reminder, though -- It’s not considered polite to paste the entire story on your blog. Most blogs post a summary or the first paragraph,( 40 words) then post a link to the rest of the story. That helps increase click-throughs for everyone, and minimizes copyright issues. So please keep posting, but not the entire article. arturc at att.net