How we report

Brooklyn sales. Recorded sales of one- to three-family houses for $100,000 or more, from public deed records. We compare three whole months with the same three months a year earlier, and leave out the newest month, because deeds are recorded weeks after closing and it is still filling in. Below 30 sales we do not call a change a trend. When three-family houses were a much bigger or smaller share of the sales than a year earlier, we say so, because that alone moves the middle price.

Monsey, Kiryas Joel and Lakewood sales. Recorded home sales from public records in New York and New Jersey, counting market sales only. Transfers under $50,000 are family or nominal transfers and are left out. We compare three months with the same months a year earlier. A street where a new building sold out in one year and not the other is left out of both years. Where no one kind of home is 60% of sales, we report each kind separately.

Highest sales of the month. Recorded sales from public records in the month named: in Brooklyn, one- to three-family houses for $100,000 or more; in Monsey, Kiryas Joel and Lakewood, homes for $50,000 or more. A price recorded on several lots on the same street and day is one deal and is counted once. We print street names only, never a house number or a name.

Price per square foot. Recorded sales of one- to three-family houses for $100,000 or more from public records, where the building’s size is on record: the price divided by the whole building’s floor area, over the last eleven whole months. The older records carry no building size, so there is no year-earlier figure to compare with. Sizes under 500 square feet and prices outside $100 to $5,000 a foot are left out as record errors.

Monthly cost of the middle house. Each town’s middle sale price from recorded sales over three months, with 20% down and a 30-year fixed loan at Freddie Mac’s weekly average rate. Principal and interest only: property tax and insurance come on top. An illustration, not a quote.

Property tax roll. The NYC Department of Finance property tax roll, one- to three-family homes in our community boards, against the year before. New and removed lots are left out.

Fair market rents. HUD’s small-area fair market rents by ZIP code: HUD’s estimate of rent plus utilities for a modest apartment, the figure housing authorities set Section 8 payments from. We link to HUD’s own page.

Rent index. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index for rent, New York-Newark-Jersey City, against the same month a year earlier.

New buildings filed. New-building filings with the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB NOW), published on NYC Open Data. We count initial filings only, so one building is counted once. A filing is a plan, not a building: many are changed or never built.

New buildings finished. Certificates of occupancy for new buildings from the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB NOW), published on NYC Open Data. We count each building once, at its first or final certificate, and leave out renewals. The record does not give the number of apartments.

Zoning applications. Zoning applications from the NYC Department of City Planning (the Zoning Application Portal). We include only applications that are filed, noticed or in public review and that propose apartments, and quote the city’s own summary. A filed application is a request, not an approval.

Housing lotteries. Affordable-housing lotteries from NYC Housing Connect, published on NYC Open Data. We list a lottery only while its application deadline has not passed. Anyone can apply free on Housing Connect; winners must meet the income rules.

Mortgage rates. Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the average rate lenders offered on a 30-year fixed mortgage that week. Your own rate depends on your credit, your down payment and the lender.

City rules. Proposed and final rules published by New York City agencies on the city’s rules site. We read the rule’s own statement of basis and purpose, and link to it so you can read it too.

Federal rules. Rules and notices from the CFPB, HUD and FHFA, as published in the Federal Register. We link to the official text.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s own newsroom. We link to the official release.