[title]
Buying a home in New York City has rarely been described as “relaxed,” but 2026 is quietly shaping up to be one of the most buyer-friendly years in recent memory—at least in the right neighborhoods.
According to a new analysis from StreetEasy using listing data from December 2025, rising inventory and falling asking prices are finally giving buyers something they haven’t had in years: options. The real estate platform’s annual list of the 10 best NYC neighborhoods for buyers highlights areas where the balance of power is shifting from sellers to people ready to move.
Bushwick tops the list, where inventory jumped more than 30 percent year-over-year and median asking prices fell a dramatic 16.3 percent, landing just under $1 million. The combination of more listings and sharper price cuts puts real negotiating leverage back in buyers’ hands.
Manhattan isn’t sitting this one out either. The Lower East Side and Midtown East both made the cut, with asking prices down 7.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. Midtown East, in particular, now has a median asking price under $1 million, which is an increasingly rare entry point for owning in Manhattan, also paired with a noticeable rise in available listings.
Brooklyn dominates the rankings overall, claiming six of the 10 spots. Beyond Bushwick, neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Clinton Hill, Bay Ridge, Sheepshead Bay and Bedford-Stuyvesant all show some version of the same trend: prices easing, inventory ticking up and less-frenzied open houses. Sheepshead Bay stood out as one of the most affordable options on the list, with a median asking price of $515,000 after a nearly 20 percent annual drop.
Queens earns its place with Kew Gardens, the most affordable neighborhood in the ranking. Median asking prices there slipped to $365,000, while inventory rose almost 8 percent, making it an ideal option for buyers looking to balance price, transit access and greenery.
While New York City is still expensive, StreetEasy makes it clear that the market is no longer uniformly brutal. In pockets across the city, 2026 is shaping up to be a year where buyers can take their time, negotiate harder and maybe (just maybe) stop refreshing listings every five minutes.
10 Best NYC Neighborhoods for Buyers in 2026
- Bushwick, Brooklyn
- Lower East Side, Manhattan
- Williamsburg, Brooklyn
- Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
- Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
- Kew Gardens, Queens
- Midtown West, Manhattan
- Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
- Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
- Midtown East, Manhattan