Brooklyn home prices are getting so high, some buyers are heading back to Manhattan. The median price of a Brooklyn home in the first quarter rose 14.4% to $515,000, the highest price reached since the second quarter of 2008, according to a report from Douglas Elliman. Brooklyn’s prices are being pushed up by strong demand coupled with a sharp decline in inventory, which fell 45% in the quarter to a five-year low. Prices in North Brooklyn, which includes the luxury condos of Williamsburg, jumped by 30% in the quarter to $691,000. But sales fell sharply — by 45%. Even east Brooklyn, which has been an epicenter of the city’s foreclosure crisis, also saw prices increase – by 5.2% to $390,000. Brooklyn rents are also up – the average rent in March reached $2,971, an 11.5% increase when compared with March 2012.

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