Queens property values, economy up: report
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Property values in Queens have grown faster than any of the boroughs, outside of Manhattan, in the past five years, according to a new report by New York state Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
Since 2000, the report found property values have grown 161%, with an average Queens home valued at $570,500, compared with the citywide average of $556,000. Almost half of all residents in the borough are homeowners, second only to Staten Island.
The comptroller's report also found that the higher home values kept rents high. Median rent in the borough was $903 in 2005, second behind Manhattan, where the median was $1,000. "The good is that homeowners have more equity. The bad news is that housing is less affordable," said Mr. Hevesi, speaking at a breakfast sponsored by the Queens Economic Development Corp.
Between 2002 and 2005, the the comptroller said the average amount of money spent on rent rose to 28.5% from 24.2%.
During that time, Queens added more than 8,500 jobs. The borough had the slowest rate of job growth of all the boroughs, but its unemployment rate reached a 15-year low. Queens also logged the highest average salary outside Manhattan at $39,835.
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall said the report is an indication that Queens is a great place to live and work.
Among the challenges, the report noted that Queens residents had the longest work commute in the country in 2004, spending about 41.2 minutes going to work, while almost 28% commuted more than an hour each way.
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