Here’s where NYC’s real estate market stands right now

On Feb 23, 2021

New York City was among the first places in the US to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and with its world-famous museums and bars mostly shut down, renters and buyers started looking to greener, suburban pastures — leaving tons of real estate unclaimed and available for cheap.

Here are the latest housing prices and forecasts so you know what to expect when you hit the market. If you’re a buyer, jump here.

Renters

It has never been a better time to be a single renter in the Big Apple. The rental market is booming in NYC, with dirt-cheap prices attracting masses of new leases, the New York Post previously reported.

“It is no surprise that rents have been declining since late March in New York City. They have been declining consistently downward,” said Victor Rodriguez, director of market analytics at the CoStar Group.

Location: Discounts to expect in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens

The best deals in New York City are in Queens, and the best deals in Manhattan can be found on the West Side. Scroll through to see rent discounts in each borough.

Manhattan: Price chops, concessions and discounts — oh my!

Typical Manhattan apartments went for $3,000 in January — almost 17% less than they did last year, according to New York-based brokerage Douglas Elliman.

But the sticker tag isn’t the only thing renters should be looking for. Owners are giving an average of 2.3 months of free rent as concessions compared to only 1.4 months at the same time last year, according to Douglas Elliman.

“Rent has almost stabilized but the amount of concessions continues to increase. That is a key part of the story, that landlords are offering two to three months rent, waiving amenity fees, paying broker costs,” said Rodriguez. “Owners are throwing in every incentive they can.”

The west side is getting the biggest discounts — 20% — compared to only 17% downtown, 12% on the east side, and only 9% in northern Manhattan, according to Douglas Elliman.

But even with record discounts, Manhattan is pricey. For the lowest sticker price, look to Marble Hill ($1,658 a month), followed by Washington Heights ($2,217 a month) and Inwood ($2,305 a month), according to listing site RentCafe.

Selling like hotcakes, but a long way to go.

Manhattans discounts are attracting tons of renters: There were 6,255 new leases in January, almost 60% more than at the same time last year. January was the fourth consecutive month of record-breaking new lease signings, said the Douglas Elliman report.

But even though January was super-hot, 5.33% of apartments were still unoccupied — a huge number compared to only 1.73% at the same time last year, according to Douglas Elliman.

“New York City was quite active in January compared to other months. That’s a good sign, but… the hole that gets dug is so deep that even notable gains still leaves you a good time away to reach where you were pre-pandemic,” said Rodriguez. “January was a good month, but we need like 12 of those to make some headway on this.”

Fewer options and a lot of competition.

But with so much competition from bargain hunters, apartments are getting harder to find. The number of apartments available for lease was down 9.3% in Manhattan, according to Douglas Elliman.

Some analysts say that’s because landlords can’t afford to market them, while others say landlords are “warehousing” them, hoping they’ll get better deals from tenants in a few months.

“Interestingly I have little to show any of my buyers. Some of them are open to extending their current leases until more product comes to market and wider distribution of the vaccine,” said broker Rachel Ostow Lustbader of Warburg Realty.

Brooklyn discounts pale in comparison

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the typical apartment is only getting a 13% discount — much lower than the price chops in Manhattan. Experts say that is because Manhattan was hardest-hit by the pandemic and because Brooklyn was less expensive to begin with, according to experts.

Landlords in Brooklyn are offering the equivalent of 2.1 months free rent, up 31.3% compared to last year, but slightly lower than what is being offered in Manhattan, according to Douglas Elliman.

Queens discounts match Manhattan

The best deals are to be found in Northwest Queens, where rent prices are down 17%, matching discounts in Manhattan — but in Queens, apartments were cheaper to begin with.

Landlords are offering the equivalent of 3.4 months free rent, up 88.9% compared to last year and far more than what is being offered in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Experts say the reason for the steep decline is because there are so many new apartments that were recently built in Queens, and now there are not enough residents to fill them.

Notably, three-bedroom apartments are offering the worst discounts, with price per…