With all those mega high-rises going up in Manhattan and on the newly tapped waterfront areas, it’s easy to forget about New York City’s outer boroughs and the many neighborhoods throughout. We already know that places like Williamsburg and Long Island City are hot markets, but a recent report released by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) shows that they aren’t the only popular neighborhoods. While Williamsburg and LIC are doubtlessly contributing to the popularity of Brooklyn and Queens, other areas have helped contribute to a 6-year high in home sales. 

If we were to look at its architecture alone, 150 Charles Street in the West Village may not be as glitzy or glamorous as some of the other new buildings coming up in New York City. But while its exterior may be low profile, its interior is anything but ordinary—the luxury apartments being offered at 150 Charles Street have been selling like hot cakes ever since they came into the market in February. People have been lining up to snap up the homes at 150 Charles Street, and nearly half of the building’s 91 condos have already been sold.

Brooklyn, long seen as the less expensive New York borough when compared to Manhattan, could soon be losing that reputation as prices for apartments in the borough shoot through the roof thanks to a market that’s running short of inventory. Although there’s a lot of demand for homes in Brooklyn, home hunters in the borough are finding that there just aren’t enough vacant apartments for them to move into, thereby giving sellers the upper hand in an increasingly tight real estate market.

While all of us hope that we get good neighbors when we move into a new apartment building in Manhattan, some of us are luckier than the others in that department. Some of the world’s most recognizable celebrities live in New York City, with many of them living in luxury apartment buildings around Manhattan—just like you! So don’t be surprised if you walk out of your home one morning to run into your favorite star in their pajamas—stranger things have happened, and they seem to all happen right here in New York.

As autumn makes its chilly presence felt in New York City, the skyrocketing prices of the city’s real estate have also cooled down (finally!). After a rollicking summer that saw eye-popping prices being asked for several homes in Manhattan, real estate reports from the third quarter of 2012 say that the prices of condos and co-ops have remained more or less the same, with only a few real estate firms showcasing an increase in prices. This is especially true in the lower and middle end of the market. However, Manhattan apartment sales have continued to rise, reaching a level that is the highest quarterly total since the financial crisis began in 2008.