WaHi Is Manhattan's Most Affordable Neighborhood, Study Says

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Manhattanites got the most space for their money in Washington Heights apartments last year, but the neighborhood's homes were still much pricier than those in the outer boroughs, a new study found.

Residents who bought apartments in Washington Heights in 2019 only had to pay $652 per square foot of space, meaning their money went farther than home buyers in any other neighborhood in the borough, the StreetEasy report found.

That price was much less than half of the $1,319-per-square-foot average for Manhattan, the most expensive borough, and lower than the citywide average of $902 per square foot of space.

Washington Heights and the borough's other most affordable neighborhoods showed that if New Yorkers want space in Manhattan, they have to go north, researchers said.

"You can find space on a budget in Manhattan, if you go north," StreetEasy wrote, noting that Uptown spots Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights all topped the borough's affordability list. "It’s still possible to stay in Manhattan and get a roomier home for a far lower price."

In Morningside Heights, residents only had to pay $773 per square foot of space and, in Hamilton Heights, a square foot went for $800, researchers said.

All three of Manhattan's most affordable neighborhoods were drastically less than some of the more expensive spots in the borough, like SoHo, where residents spent a whopping $2,023 per square foot of apartment space.

But, the researchers did point out that for a real bang for their buck, New Yorkers should be traveling to the outer boroughs.

The Bronx took the prize for the borough with the most affordable neighborhoods. A home buyer in Morris Park, where space goes for an average of $243 per square foot, could buy eight homes for the price of one in SoHo, researchers said.

Not far behind was Queens, where the study's benchmark of $700,000 could buy a 2,745-square-foot apartment in Jamaica Estates. Every square foot of space went for just $255 there.

In Brooklyn, East New York apartments cost the least, with every square foot going for $338.

The StreetEasy study determined its rankings by using all f 2019's recorded sales data to find the median recorded price per square foot in each neighborhood. Neighborhoods must have had at least 100 recorded closings throughout the year to be considered for the list.

Staten Island was not included in this analysis because of the lack of closings data, the report said.