Jamaica: NYC's next hot neighborhood

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Rising rents in Manhattan and Brooklyn may be good news for one community in Queens. Experts now believe Jamaica will be the next hot neighborhood.

Veronica Jordan was born and raised in Jamaica, but a growing stock of new housing and accessibility to mass transit are what made her decide to stay. Midtown Manhattan is just 19 minutes away on an express Long Island Rail Road train. That and the fact that you can get more living space at comparatively low prices are some of the reasons real estate listing site StreetEasy predicts Jamaica will be the hottest neighborhood in 2016.

Justin Rodgers, managing director at the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, says interest here is rapidly growing.

Alan Lightfeldt is the data scientist at StreetEasy who helped compile the 2016 predictions. He looked at yearly change in rent and sales prices, increases in populations, and at page views for listings in various neighborhoods.

The prediction for No. 2 hottest neighborhood: Coney Island. Next was Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. Woodside in Queens, Midwood in Brooklyn and Bedford Park in the Bronx also made the list.

Housing prices throughout the city are expected to still go up next year but the silver lining, according to street easy, is that they should grow at a slower pace than last year in Jamaica.