New Investor in New York Tri-State Area

[Hakan Uzumcu]

Hi, BP members. I'm a new investor I've been looking to make my first home and investment property purchase, and am looking at multi-families in the Tri-State NYC area. I work in Midtown and would owner occupy the property. I'm looking at 3+1 or 4 units or the right 2+1 multi-family. The forums have been a great help in learning about specific towns after finding properties on Zillow, and I'm wondering if there are any dedicated resources out there for a couple of questions I've had: 

• Is there an online resource where I can find the rate of home appreciation for specific NY/NJ locales? 
• Is there a resource for average price of rent to average home price for specific locales? 

Currently, I've been searching town by town, and also looking at Zillow to see the average rents per neighborhood. So far Newark, NJ looks good from an appreciation standpoint, and rents might go up. Downside is NJ taxes and 1 hour commute with transfers to NYC. Another route for me is the Bronx, where home prices seem to have leveled off a bit, but rents are much higher. 

Interested in hearing member's thoughts on these areas and if anyone has sources they like using for the aforementioned data. 

Best, 
-H