Do NYC Condos Near the Subway Cost More?
Summary: "Close to the train" is one of the oldest selling points in NYC real estate. We checked it against recorded new-condo sales in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Here's what a shorter walk is really worth, and where it matters.
Do Condos Near the Subway Sell for More?
At first glance, yes. In a city where 69% of the new-condo buildings we matched are within a 6-minute walk of a subway, the closer ones usually cost more. Here's the typical building's price per square foot, by how far it is from the train. Sales from different years are mixed together here.
| Walk to the subway | Manhattan | Brooklyn | Queens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 min or less | $1,842103 buildings | $1,246168 buildings | $1,19329 buildings |
| 4–6 min | $1,78963 buildings | $1,189277 buildings | $1,10146 buildings |
| 7–10 min | $1,94325 buildings | $1,044156 buildings | $1,02123 buildings |
| 11+ min | $2,0638 buildings | $1,04551 buildings | $96039 buildings |
In Brooklyn, the typical building 3 min or less from the subway sold for $1,246 per square foot. At 7–10 min, it was $1,044, or −16%. Queens drops off in a similar way. In Manhattan, the farthest buildings sold for the most.
Is It the Walk, or the Neighborhood?
That first table mixes very different places. A building by the Bedford Avenue L stop isn't just closer to the train than one in southern Brooklyn. It's in a different market. So we compared each sale with others in the same neighborhood and the same year.
The table shows how much more or less buyers paid per square foot than for buildings 3 min or less from the subway:
| Manhattan | Brooklyn | Queens | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4–6 minanywhere in the borough | −9% | −5% | −11% |
| 4–6 minsame neighborhood | −3% | +1% | −4% |
| 7–10 minanywhere in the borough | +2% | −14% | −22% |
| 7–10 minsame neighborhood | −2% | −3% | +9% |
| 11+ minanywhere in the borough | +25% | −8% | −25% |
| 11+ minsame neighborhood | +8% | +3% | +5% |
Across Brooklyn, the gap for buildings 7–10 min from the train was −14% per square foot. Within the same neighborhood, it was just −3%. In Queens, the borough-wide gap grows from −11% to −25% as the walk gets longer. That's mostly the difference between places like Long Island City and neighborhoods farther out.
Good to know: within a neighborhood you like, a building closer to the subway usually doesn't cost much more per square foot. If the walk matters to you, it's often worth going for the closer building. Just don't expect a big discount for walking farther.
Which Neighborhoods Pay Up for a Short Walk?
Some neighborhoods have enough buildings, both near and far from the train, to compare on their own. Here are the 15 with at least 5 buildings within 5 minutes and 5 farther away, each with 3 or more sales. The chart shows how much more (or less) the closer buildings sold for per square foot, adjusted for the year of sale.
| Crown Heights (10 near, 19 farther) | +33% |
|---|---|
| Upper East Side (20 near, 5 farther) | +11% |
| Greenpoint (23 near, 15 farther) | +10% |
| Carroll Gardens (17 near, 9 farther) | +8% |
| Bushwick (35 near, 22 farther) | +5% |
| Flatbush (5 near, 8 farther) | +3% |
| Sunset Park (5 near, 6 farther) | +2% |
| Astoria (8 near, 19 farther) | +2% |
| Williamsburg (46 near, 23 farther) | +2% |
| Bedford-Stuyvesant (27 near, 53 farther) | +1% |
| Park Slope (32 near, 12 farther) | −3% |
| Clinton Hill (14 near, 9 farther) | −7% |
| Upper West Side (11 near, 5 farther) | −14% |
| Borough Park (15 near, 8 farther) | −15% |
| Chelsea (6 near, 11 farther) | −18% |
Median building, each adjusted to its borough's average for the year of sale. Neighborhoods with at least 5 buildings on each side and 3+ sales per building.
No real difference: in Flatbush, Sunset Park, Astoria, Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Park Slope, close and far buildings sold within 3% of each other. These neighborhoods have buildings at every distance from the train.
Closer costs more: Crown Heights (+33%), Upper East Side (+11%).
Farther costs more: Clinton Hill (−7%), Upper West Side (−14%), Borough Park (−15%), Chelsea (−18%). In Chelsea (−18%), the farther buildings include 435 W. 19th Street, 505 West 19th Street, 517 West 29th, 532 West 20th Street, Abi Chelsea, Caledonia. Most are on the far west side, toward the Hudson River and the High Line. For many buyers, the water and the park beat a short walk to the train.
Buildings with 3+ sponsor sales since 2015, and the nearest station entrance each one uses.
The catch: look at the map before you read too much into it. In Crown Heights (+33%), the closer buildings mostly use Park Pl and Franklin Av-Medgar Evers College/Botanic Garden, while the farther ones mostly use Nostrand Av and Crown Hts-Utica Av. Those are different parts of the neighborhood, so part of the gap is about the part, not the walk.
Why Is Manhattan Different?
Most of Manhattan is close to a subway. 83% of the new-condo buildings we matched there are within 6 minutes of one. The few that aren't sit at the island's edges, and those edges are pricey. The 8 buildings 11+ min from the subway were 532 West 20th Street (Chelsea), 253 East 7th Street (East Village), 650 East 6th Street (East Village), Perla's Pueblo (East Village), SIVA Tower (Hell's Kitchen), One Waterline Square (Upper West Side), Three Waterline Square (Upper West Side), Two Waterline Square (Upper West Side).
The typical far building sold for $2,063 per square foot, compared with $1,842 for buildings 3 min or less away. Even within the same neighborhood, the longest walks came out +8%. The Waterline Square towers on the Hudson drive that number: they account for 76% of the sales 11+ min from the subway, at a median of $2,564 per square foot. The other far buildings, mostly small ones in the East Village near Avenues C and D, sold for a median of $1,697.
How to Use This When You Shop
- Pick the neighborhood first. That's where most of the price difference is.
- Then take the shorter walk if you can. Within a neighborhood, it usually costs little extra.
- Don't assume farther means cheaper. Near water or a park, the farthest buildings can be the most expensive.
- Compare the line, not just the minutes. An express stop or a station with several lines can matter more than two minutes of walking.
- Look at closing prices, not just asking prices. Every building page shows recorded sales where we have them.
Tip: shopping on a budget? See condos near a subway, at each price point.
FAQ
Do NYC condos close to the subway cost more?
Across a borough, yes: in Brooklyn, the typical new-condo building 7–10 min from the subway sold for −16% per square foot against buildings 3 min or less away. But within the same neighborhood and year, the gap was −3%. Most of the premium comes from the neighborhood, not the walk.
How much does each minute of walking to the subway lower a condo's price?
Within the same neighborhood, very little. In the new-condo sales we matched, no walk band in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens differed by more than 9% per square foot from buildings 3 min or less from the subway, and the differences didn't consistently point one way.
Why are some Manhattan condos far from the subway so expensive?
Because the far-from-the-train spots in Manhattan are at the island's edges, and the biggest new buildings there are on the Hudson River, in West Chelsea and on the Upper West Side. Buyers pay for the water views and the parks, not the walk.
Which neighborhoods show the biggest premium for being close to the subway?
Among the neighborhoods we could compare, Crown Heights (+33%), Upper East Side (+11%). In those areas, the close and far buildings also tend to be in different parts of the neighborhood, which explains part of the gap.
Which sales did you use?
We matched 12,979 new-condo sales in 988 buildings, recorded in ACRIS from 2015 through Sep 30, 2026. Each is the first deed from the sponsor for a home, matched to Schedule A units by unit number, with a price per square foot between $200 and $6,000 (Schedule A square feet as filed). We compare price per square foot so a big apartment and a small one can be compared fairly. The Bronx and Staten Island have too few matched buildings to include.
How did you measure the walk?
Along real streets to the nearest MTA subway entrance that allows entry (MTA Subway Entrances and Exits, 2024), routed on OpenStreetMap's street network at 80 meters a minute, an easy 3-miles-an-hour pace. Routes go around rivers, rail yards and highways, as you would on foot.
How are the tables calculated?
The borough table shows each building's median price per square foot and the median building in each walk band, all years together. The gap table is a regression of log price per square foot on walk bands, with sale-year effects ("anywhere in the borough") and with neighborhood and sale-year effects ("same neighborhood"); each sale counts once, so large buildings weigh more. The neighborhood table uses buildings with 3+ sales, each building's price per square foot adjusted to its borough's average for the year of sale, and compares the median building 5 minutes or less from the subway with the median building farther away.
How are neighborhoods drawn?
From each building's map point; western Astoria is counted as Astoria rather than Long Island City. These are associations in past sales, not a forecast of any home's value.
Related: The Williamsburg Condo Market · The Bushwick Condo Market