412% (or Staten Island is Burning)

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The Post regales us with chart junk about the foreclosure situation in NYC, and in the process, misses the story. Their map colors Brooklyn and Queens red (danger!), and Staten Island orange (caution?), but maybe Staten Island should be the focus here.

In raw numbers, sure Queens and Brooklyn have the most foreclosures, but they also have the most housing. But on a year-to-year basis, Brooklyn’s foreclosures are up a bit over 8% – relatively speaking, good news in today’s real estate climate. Compare that to the increase in foreclosures citywide, which are up a whopping 66%. In fact, ranked among the 5 boroughs, Brooklyn has the second lowest change in foreclosures (second only to Manhattan, where foreclosures are small in number, and at least since last year, dropping).

So here’s the real story (sans fiery-colored map):

  • Manhattan -8%
  • Brooklyn +8.5%
  • Bronx +55%
  • Queens +59%
  • NYC +66%
  • Staten Island +412%