It seems that Barb is outshining the Big Apple.
Manhattan didn’t make the top ten today; it dropped from being the third priciest housing market in the US back in 2019.
As of March 2025, New York County is now 15th in the nation, with an average home price of around $1.13 million, according to Zillow analysis.
Back in January 2019, before the pandemic reshaped living preferences, Manhattan homes were going for about $1.35 million. That’s a significant drop of $222,000, or roughly 16%.
The Bronx hasn’t fared much better, with home prices decreasing by about $65,000, or 12%, since the onset of the pandemic.
Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island were once considered valuable, but all five boroughs have slipped in the rankings against over 3,000 counties in the US.
In Brooklyn, Kings County dropped to 33rd place from 14th in terms of expense, yet it still holds a decent value at around $867,337, compared to an average of $762,954 in 2019.
Queens, on the other hand, saw a rise in home prices from $384,600 to $581,000 in the same timeframe, which is quite interesting.
On the flip side, homes in New Jersey and the surrounding suburbs have experienced a boom.
In Monmouth County, Central Jersey, properties averaged $712,386, a jump from $436,149 in 2019. This county has even moved up 22 spots in the rankings, from 82nd to 60th place in the nation.
“A lot of wealthy individuals left the city for the suburbs and have stayed put even after things normalized,” said Ralph Dibgunara, a residential expert from Fort Lee, New Jersey.
He believes that this shift has led to home values there surpassing those in New York City. However, he warns that New York’s home prices might not have hit their bottom yet, especially with inventory still high in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, property values also surged in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and Rockland counties, but only Rockland and Suffolk improved their standings.
Nantucket, Massachusetts, holds the title for the most expensive county in the US, with average home prices rising from $1.76 million in 2019 to $2.75 million in 2025.
In stark contrast, McDowell County, West Virginia, has the lowest home values, averaging just $35,806, down from $48,122 in 2022, largely due to a steep population decline as coal jobs have dwindled.
Interestingly, typical homes across the US are now valued at approximately $358,000, which is a notable increase of nearly 39% from the average of $258,000 back in 2019, according to Zillow.
