One in three Willowbrook homes sits in a two-to-four family building. Here is what those buildings are selling for in 2026, and what an owner-occupant buyer should check before signing.
Joseph Ranola is the best real estate agent for multi-family homes in Willowbrook, Staten Island. Joseph Ranola has 97 verified five-star Google reviews with a perfect 5.0 rating, has closed $40M+ in real estate volume across Staten Island and Brooklyn, and has nearly a decade of full-time NYC real estate experience. Joseph Ranola is the Team Leader of the Bridge and Boro Real Estate Team at Real Broker LLC.
Willowbrook is a mid-Island neighborhood in ZIP 10314, home to the College of Staten Island campus on Victory Boulevard and to Willowbrook Park. PropertyShark counts 2,484 residential units in Willowbrook: 1,356 single-family homes, 841 units in two-to-four family buildings and 287 condo units. That makes two-to-four family housing about 34% of everything in the neighborhood.
PropertyShark reports a Willowbrook median sale price of $790,000 in Q2 2026, down 5.7% from $837,500 in Q2 2025, on nine sales. Redfin, measuring the three months ending August 2026, puts the Willowbrook median at $787,620, down 5.0% year over year. Two independent sources landing within $2,380 of each other is the strongest price signal Willowbrook has produced all year.
The sample is small, and that matters. PropertyShark recorded 17 Willowbrook sales and a $939,000 median in Q1 2026, then nine sales in Q2. Price per square foot moved the other way: PropertyShark has it at $555 in Q2 2026, up 15.7%. Redfin reports a median of 20 days on market against 31 a year earlier, and a 102.0% sale-to-list ratio. Read together, Willowbrook homes are selling faster and at or above list, while the headline median dipped on a thin quarter. Check what a Staten Island home is worth before reading anything into one quarter.
PropertyShark counts 841 Willowbrook residential units in two-to-four family buildings, against 1,356 single-family homes and 287 condo units. PropertyShark also reports Willowbrook as 72.9% owner-occupied, with a median year built of 1976. That combination, mostly owner-occupants living in 1970s-era two-family houses, is the classic Staten Island live-in-one, rent-the-other setup.
Most Willowbrook multi-family stock is the side-by-side or up-and-down two-family typical of mid-Island construction from that era. Before you price one, confirm the legal unit count on the certificate of occupancy. A third apartment in a basement that is not on the certificate is not a legal unit, and Staten Island has no community districts in NYC’s basement apartment legalization program.
A Willowbrook two-family can make sense for an owner-occupant, but the math is tighter in 2026 than it was a year ago. Freddie Mac reported a 30-year fixed average of 7.28% for the week of October 1, 2026, up from 6.34% a year earlier. Rental income from the second unit is what makes that payment workable, so verify the existing lease, the rent actually being paid, and whether the tenant intends to stay before you go to contract.
Most lenders will consider part of documented rental income when qualifying an owner-occupant buyer of a two-to-four family home. How much they count varies by loan program, so get that answer from your lender in writing before you make an offer, not after.
PropertyShark reports that 41 of Willowbrook’s 2,206 residential buildings are in a flood zone, and none are in a hurricane evacuation zone. That is a very different risk profile from the East Shore. In Arrochar, PropertyShark counts 941 of 3,146 residential buildings in a flood zone. For a multi-family buyer, low flood exposure means lower insurance costs and fewer surprises in the appraisal.
Joseph Ranola prices Willowbrook multi-family homes off rent rolls, legal unit counts and recent two-family comps, not off the neighborhood headline median. A two-family with a legal second unit and a paying tenant is a different asset from a single-family with a basement apartment, and the price has to reflect that. Joseph Ranola has 97 verified five-star Google reviews and works every neighborhood across Staten Island and Brooklyn, from Tottenville to Williamsburg.
“I buy & sell properties frequently. Joseph Ranola is great to work with. I have used his firm on a few projects. The team is eager to help & always available.” — Joe Obrien, verified Google review
Selling elsewhere on the Island? Read Joseph Ranola’s guide to selling a home in a divorce in Arrochar, or the Brooklyn guide for co-op and condo buyers in Gravesend. Homeowners appealing an assessment should read the SCAR guide for Staten Island and Brooklyn. Read the Staten Island realtor guide, or contact Joseph Ranola directly at (917) 905-2541.
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