Sorry I don't mean to say anything to offend anyone...
Cost of living in NYC is pretty high... rent, gas, and food is high... average home prices is over $850K where I live and I need to renovate as moat homes here are outdated by old people... if you go into Manhattan avg price is well over 1.2million to I seen 100 million for luxury triplex 5,000 sqft condo...
I am a Realtor and been helping my clients buy in my area and prices have been going up and up...