Given the positive trend of New York City real estate over the last few years, many areas have been improving and prices rising, in some cases at a very healthy pace. Manhattan is the core of NYC real estate and of course everyone and his mom want a piece of it; Brooklyn has become another household name all over the world; Queens has gained traction with the development of areas like Long Island City and Astoria; but relatively few people have been talking about the Bronx which remains relatively cheap. There are many beautiful areas in the Bronx, starting with Grand Concourse which was modeled on the Champs-Élysées in Paris but is considerably larger, stretching four miles (6 km) in length, measuring 180 feet (55 m) across, and separated into three roadways by tree-lined dividers. The Real Deal magazine has published this month interesting statistics about the Bronx. The millions of dollars invested in Bronx real estate in 2013 were approximately 895, a 33% increase from 2010. Transforming the South Bronx waterfront into a mixed-use hub would generate $500 million in new development and 3,500 jobs, recently said Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Average income of residents in the South Bronx, even though lower than NYC average, did increase 15% between 2005 and 2010. The average residential rent price in the neighborhoods of Highbridge and Concourse climbed 10% since 2005. An estimated 5,600 apartment units were bought in the Bronx by investors in the first quarter of 2014 (for a total of about $651 million). In comparison in the first quarter of 2012 only 794 units were bought (for a total of $72 million). The median price for homes in the Bronx between December 2013 and March 2014 was $341,000. Manhattan median price was $1.25 million in the same period. The number of residents with a bachelor degree in Highbridge and Concourse jumped up 40% between 2005 and 2010. Major crimes reported in the Bronx dropped 74% from 1990 and 2013. For the last five years the drop was about 3%. The number of crimes reported in the Bronx, which is only 190,000 residents short of Manhattan, was 20,699 in 2013; in Manhattan the figure was higher: 27,527. Who says that the Bronx is unsafe? Fifth Avenue retail rents reach record high Retail rents in Manhattan have surged over the last year, according to the spring retail report by The Real Estate Board of New York, with ground floor locations on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 59th streets reaching a record high of $3,550 per square foot. The price was a 16% jump from the same period last year, when the average rent was $3,052 per square foot. An increase in tourism and a growing economy have sparked the higher rents. Times Square stores have also seen record rents with an average monthly cost for ground floor spaces hitting $2,407 per square foot, an 11% jump from last year. Madison Avenue between 57th and 72nd streets, meanwhile, saw average rents go up 24% between last spring and this spring with $1,643 per square foot. The report added that the rise in rents shows Manhattan’s retail real estate continues to make major rebounds from the 2008 recession. The overall average asking rent for retail space in the borough was $139 per square foot, a 20% jump from spring 2013, the report said.