Plenty of New Yorkers struggle with this city’s cost of living, but two groups in particular have been hit a bit harder by rising New York City rents, according to a new StreetEasy report: families and low-income residents.
Real estate site StreetEasy recently released its annual rent affordability report for 2018, which looks at the state of New York City rents and how they’re changing (as in, rising) across the five boroughs.
Overall, rents have increased 31 percent since 2010, according to StreetEasy, but that’s not a uniform change. Some neighborhoods saw rents go up 15 percent, while others experienced a 45 percent increase.
As if just finding an apartment to fit your whole family isn’t hard enough, residents with families have to deal with faster-rising New York City rents in particular.
New York neighborhoods where at least a quarter of the residents were families with children saw rents rise by 32 percent. That’s 5 percent faster over the past 10 years than neighborhoods that are home to fewer families, according to the report.
Low-income New Yorkers also see faster-rising rents. Neighborhoods with a median household income below $50,285 saw rents go up 33 percent — 6 percent more than in areas with a household income above that figure, which is the citywide median.
For a household spending $2,000 per month on rent in 2010, that 6 percent additional growth in New York City rent prices adds up to $125 more per month, or $1,500 a year, in 2018, according to StreetEasy.
“Rents have risen in the city, but not all New Yorkers have felt the same effects,” StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long said in a statement. “Residents who already struggle to make ends meet and renters dealing with the high costs of childcare are predominantly living in areas that see the most dramatic rent growth. These are often residents who have little financial flexibility to begin with. As a greater share of their incomes goes towards rent, it’s increasingly difficult for families to save for a down payment on a home, their children’s college education, or emergencies.”
New York City rents are rising the slowest, per the report, in Manhattan neighborhoods like Midtown, Gramercy Park, and the Financial District where fewer than 10 percent of renters have children, and in high-end areas like Dumbo and Central Park South.
Neighborhoods where New York City rents rose the fastest: StreetEasy
