By The Diary
The New York City real estate market entered 2026 with a 4% year-over-year (YoY) increase in prices, raising its median sales price to $800,000. thus recovering the price levels observed in the third quarter of 2025.
As a novelty, Malba ranked 5th most expensive neighborhood to buy a home in NYC, the highest ranking ever achieved by Queensaccording to the latest report from Property Shark. Notably, Malba’s $2.5 million median sales price also set a new price record for Queens.
Average sales prices increased in the four districts studied (New York, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens)but it was the 8% year-on-year increase in New York that drove much of the city’s price appreciation, given that this county represented 41% of all sales.
“It is worth noting that the upward trajectory of prices in the city was accompanied by a 3% year-over-year decrease in transactional activity, which reduced sales volume to 6,916 condominium, cooperative and single-family home transactions during the first three months of 2026. More specifically, Sales activity trended downward in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx; Only transactions in New York registered an increase, although even in this case sales grew only 2% year-on-year.”
New york also recorded the sharpest price increase, reaching $1.24 million dollars after a year-on-year gain of 8%.
Traditionally the list highlights the 50 neighborhoods most expensive in the city, but in the first quarter of 2026 55 were included due to four ties in prices. Specifically, Brooklyn and New York ranked 22 neighborhoods each among the most expensive, while Queens managed to rank 11.
It should be noted that 39 of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods surpassed $1 million dollars, A figure that represents two neighborhoods less than in the first quarter of 2025. Of these, five neighborhoods reached average sales prices that easily exceeded $2.5 million dollars. Property Shark’s report in detail can be found here.
Contrast: tax pied-à-terre vs Public Housing
New York is a city of many contrasts and without a doubt housing is the area of greatest concern for the vast majority of its inhabitants.
Last month, the proposal to establish a tax on the second home “of the rich” advanced in New York (pied-à-terre), with the support of the Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Without surprises, President Donald trump and the real estate sector is mostly opposed. «It will weaken the economy of the city as a whole. It will not generate the amount of revenue expected, but will eliminate thousands of construction jobs, reduce property values and increase costs for New Yorkers,” said Jim Whelan, president of the Property Board of New York, a trade association and lobbying group.
In parallel, at the moment There are more than 150,000 people dreaming of getting a cheap public housing apartment in the city of New York (NYCHA) and some families carry on the waiting list for more than a decade.
- Increasingly expensive rentals in New York: record prices in New York and Brooklyn
Top 10 Most Expensive Neighborhoods to Live in New York City (2026):