House prices in Brooklyn are so expensive people are moving back into Manhattan

(Getty)

In a bizarre case of reverse gentrification, the prices of Brooklyn properties have become so inflated by people leaving Manhattan that Manhattan itself is starting to look like the cheaper option again.

The New York Times this week focused in on couple Eric Kabakoff and Christina Lewandowski, who recently realised their $750,000 budget was not going to be enough to buy the apartment they wanted in the trendy borough, but widening their search were "pleasantly surprised to find prices within their reach in an area of New York they had not initially considered: Manhattan."

It feels almost parasitic in a way, with humans having descended upon Manhattan in such numbers that it is no longer such a desirable place (if you've sat in Times Square and watched pigeons descend on Chicken McNuggets as tourists cram into Subways you'll know what I mean).

Increasingly, people are moving to places like Washington Heights, Inwood and Morningside Heights on the outskirts of Manhattan, where median housing prices are less than that of Brooklyn.

In London, gentrification continues to expand outward, but it's easy to imagine a future where the market falls in on itself, leaving the claustrophobic central locations as cheaper options in comparison to the leafier, well-transport-connected suburbs.