Coney Island sees a budding real estate boom

Brooklyn, which is considered ground zero of New York City's gentrification and luxury real estate boom, has a $2.9 million penthouse on the market. The price tag is fairly reasonable by Big Apple standards, and may come as a surprise — until you consider the neighborhood where it's listed. Thanks to its location on Brighton Beach, along the Coney Island peninsula, the four-bedroom, 3½-bath penthouse with a fireplace listed by Douglas Elliman boasts impressive oceanfront views, something most properties in Brooklyn's hot real estate market can't match. The area's demographics, which 2010 Census data shows as being at the lower end of the city's income range and skewed heavily toward Eastern European immigrants – may make it an unlikely choice for a nearly $3 million home. Yet if the real estate trends of the past few years are any indication, the home to the legendary amusement park and boardwalk could be Brooklyn's next neighborhood to undergo a development boom.