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Rental Discounts are Scarce Amidst Strong Summer Demand

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The number of rental units offering discounts hit new lows while rents reached all-time highs, according to the July 2018 StreetEasy Market Reports

NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Heightened competition during peak moving season has given the rental market a boost in July, as a rush of new residents arrive in the city and current residents move into new apartments. The share of units discounted fell city-wide, reaching its lowest point in Manhattan and Brooklyn since 2011, according to the July 2018 StreetEasy Market Reports(i).

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Rental discounts decreased the most in Manhattan where only one in ten units offered a discount during the month of July, down from nearly one in five apartments during the same time last year – a drop of 9.1 percentage points. Brooklyn and Queens saw similar declines with the share of discounts down by 6.9 and 5.7 percentage points since last year, respectively.

As discounts fell across the city, StreetEasy also recorded rents climbing to all-time highs in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. According to the StreetEasy Rent Index(ii), Manhattan rents rose to $3,225, an increase of 1.6 percent over last year, marking the fastest year-over-year rise in rents the borough has experienced in 18 months. Despite this accelerating rate of growth, it is still much slower than the monthly rate of growth that occurred between 2013 and 2016, when StreetEasy recorded 3 to 5 percent increases.

“While it’s typical to see rents peak in the summer months, the dramatic lack of discounts in July made it clear that the surge of new grads and new employees entering the city’s workforce gave landlords the upper hand this summer,” says StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “Renters are generally in a weaker negotiating position than last summer, particularly in highly sought-after neighborhoods around the city. Those able to afford the high price of entry to newer, amenity-rich buildings may have more luck; buildings in areas dense with new development remain among the most likely to offer incentives to lure new tenants.”

See below for additional rental and sales market trends across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

July 2018 Key Findings — Manhattan

  • Rents rose in all Manhattan submarkets. The StreetEasy Manhattan Rent Index reached an all-time high of $3,225, an increase of 1.6 percent over last year. Upper Manhattan(iii), the least expensive submarket, experienced the largest jump with rents rising 2.8 percent to $2,372.
  • Manhattan rental discounts dropped the most among the boroughs. The share of Manhattan rentals offering discounts fell to 9.8 percent, a 9.1 percentage point drop from last year. Discounts fell in all five Manhattan submarkets, with the share in Downtown Manhattan(iv) dropping from 10.4 percent to 9.7 percent of rentals.
  • Upper West Side sales prices dipped to 2016 levels(v). The StreetEasy Price Index(vi) fell 5.2 percent in the Upper West Side to $1,101,567 – the lowest level since 2016. Borough-wide, prices were stagnant since last year at $1,155,467.
  • Manhattan homes sold a week faster. The median days on market fell to 76 days in the borough, with homes selling 8 days faster than last year. Downtown homes sold more than three weeks faster than last year – down to a median of 74 days spent on the market.
  • Sales inventory continued to rise. Sales inventory rose 14.3 percent year-over-year. Inventory in Upper Manhattan increased the most: up 24.5 percent since last year.
  • Despite rising inventory, price cuts dipped. The share of for-sale homes offering discounts dropped to just 5.2 percent, a 5.2 percentage point decrease since last year.

July 2018 Key Findings — Brooklyn

  • Rents rose in all submarkets except North Brooklyn. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Rent Index hit an all-time high of $2,599, an increase of 1.5 percent. Rents rose in all submarkets except for North Brooklyn(vii) where rents stagnated at $3,073, potentially caused by cooling interest among renters due to the impending L train shutdown./li>
  • Rental discounts decreased dramatically. The share of rentals with a discount fell to 8.1 percent in Brooklyn – a 6.9 percentage point decrease from last year. North Brooklyn had the largest share of discounted rentals at 11.1 percent, though the submarket still experienced a 9.4 percentage point decrease in discounts since last year. /li>
  • Home prices were unchanged. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Price Index stagnated at $741,900. Sales prices in North Brooklyn rose 4 percent year-over-year, reaching $1,216,360./li>
  • North Brooklyn homes sold seven weeks faster. Homes for sale in North Brooklyn spent a median of 52 days on the market, down from the 100 days they spent on the market at this time last year. Borough-wide, homes sold in 71 days, five days faster than last year./li>
  • Price cuts fell across the borough. The share of Brooklyn homes with a price cut fell to five percent of all homes, a decline of 3.9 percentage points. Price cuts declined in every submarket, led by North Brooklyn where 3.7 percent of homes were discounted, 7.7 percentage points less than last year./li>
  • Inventory rose across the borough, except in North Brooklyn. Sales inventory increased 17.5 percent in Brooklyn. North Brooklyn was the only submarket to experience a dip in inventory, down 4.1 percent compared to this time last year.

July 2018 Key Findings — Queens

  • Rents remained flat. The StreetEasy Queens Rent Index stagnated at $2,155. Rents rose slightly in Central Queens(viii), up 1.6 percent annually to $2,093.
  • Rental discounts dropped in all submarkets. Only 7.5 percent of Queens rentals experienced a discount in July, a 5.7 percent decrease from last year. In Northwest Queens(ix), discounts dropped the most: 7.2 percent of rentals had their price cut, down 8.4 percent from last year.
  • Prices continued to rise. The StreetEasy Queens Price Index increased again, as it has since 2013. Prices rose 7.2 percent year-over-year to $530,917.
  • Price cuts became even more rare. The share of Queens homes offering price cuts dropped to 3.8 percent, down 5.5 percentage points from last year. In Northeast Queens(x), just 3 percent of homes had their prices cut, down 6.8 percentage points since last year.
  • Queens was the only borough where inventory fell. The number of Queens homes for sale dropped by 6.9 percent. Northwest Queens and Central Queens were the only areas in the borough to see an uptick, rising 13 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

The complete StreetEasy Market Reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, with additional neighborhood data and graphics, can be viewed at streeteasy.com/blog/research/market-reports/. Definitions of StreetEasy’s metrics and monthly data from each report can be downloaded at streeteasy.com/blog/download-data/.

About StreetEasy

StreetEasy is New York City’s leading local real estate marketplace on mobile and the web, providing accurate and comprehensive for-sale and for-rent listings from hundreds of real estate brokerages throughout New York City and the NYC metropolitan area. StreetEasy adds layers of proprietary data and useful search tools to help home shoppers and real estate professionals navigate the complex real estate markets within the five boroughs of New York City, as well as Northern New Jersey.

Launched in 2006, StreetEasy is based in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. StreetEasy is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).

StreetEasy is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

(i) The StreetEasy Market Reports are a monthly overview of the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens sales and rental markets. Every three months, a quarterly analysis is published. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, with more than a decade of history for most metrics. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit https://streeteasy.com/blog/research/market-reports/. StreetEasy tracks data for all five boroughs within New York City, but currently only produces reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

(ii) The StreetEasy Rent Indices are monthly indices that track changes in rent for all housing types and are currently available from January 2007 in Manhattan, January 2010 in Brooklyn and January 2012 in Queens. Each index uses a repeat-sales method similar that used to calculate the StreetEasy Price Indices. The repeat method evaluates rental price growth based on homes in a given geography that have listed for rent more than once. More details on methodology here.

(iii) The Upper Manhattan submarket includes Central Harlem, East Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Inwood, Manhattanville, Marble Hill, Washington Heights and West Harlem.

(iv) The Downtown Manhattan submarket includes Battery Park City, Chelsea, Chinatown, Civic Center, East Village, Financial District, Flatiron, Gramercy Park, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Nolita, SoHo, Stuyvesant Town/PCV, Tribeca and the West Village.

(v) The Upper West Side submarket includes Lincoln Square, Manhattan Valley, Morningside Heights and the Upper West Side.

(vi) The StreetEasy Price Indices track changes in resale prices of condo, co-op, and townhouse units. Each index uses a repeat-sales method of comparing the sales prices of the same properties since January 1995 in Manhattan and January 2007 in Brooklyn and Queens. Given this methodology, each index accurately captures the change in home prices by controlling for the varying composition of homes sold in a given month. Levels of the StreetEasy Price Indices reflect average values of homes on the market. Data on the sale of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/

(vii) The North Brooklyn submarket includes Greenpoint, East Williamsburg and Williamsburg.

(viii) The Central Queens submarket includes Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Glendale, Jackson Heights, Maspeth, Middle Village, North Corona, Rego Park, Ridgewood and Woodside.

(ix) The Northwest Queens submarket includes Astoria, Ditmars-Steinway, Long Island City and Sunnyside.

(x) The Northeast Queens submarket includes Alley Park, Auburndale, Bayside, Bellerose, Bowne Park, Briarwood, Clearview, College Point, Douglaston, Floral Park, Flushing, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hillcrest, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Little Neck, New Hyde Park, Oakland Gardens, Pomonok, Queensboro Hill, Utopia and Whitestone.

Manhattan Sales Inventory Rises at Fastest Pace on Record

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For-sale inventory soars across New York City, while recorded sales fall by more than 25 percent

New York, NY – June 21, 2018 (PRNewswire) Home prices and sales inventory spiked in May, with inventory across the city reaching all-time highs, according to the May 2018 StreetEasy Market Reports(i). While sales inventory often peaks in May amid home-shopping season, this year set new records. Inventory in Manhattan rose 16.7 percent compared to last year, the largest year-over-year increase on StreetEasy recordii. Brooklyn and Queens saw similar surges, with inventory up 23.4 percent and 42.8 percent, respectively.

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While inventory levels rose dramatically, the number of recorded sales fell for the third consecutive month. Recorded sales dropped in every submarket across Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, with the largest annual dips occurring in Upper East Side, Midtown and the Rockaways. Despite the additional inventory, the StreetEasy Price Indexiii rose in all three boroughs since last year. Prices in Queens increased the most: up 9.1 percent to an all-time high of $544,587, making the median home in Queens $45,000 more expensive than a year ago.

“Sellers are betting on a wave of demand from the peak shopping season, but this summer’s market has turned out to be a crowded one,” says StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “However, prices are high and continue to rise. More affordable homes are the hardest to find, and are sure to sell quickly. But higher-end homes, particularly those joining the market from the ongoing stream of new development, will be pressured to lower prices or linger on the market. This summer is poised to offer an excellent negotiating opportunity for buyers with big budgets.”

See below for additional sales and rental market trends across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

May 2018 Key Findings — Manhattan

  • Sale prices rose in all submarkets but one. The StreetEasy Manhattan Price Index increased 0.6 percent to $1,157,995. Prices rose in four of the five submarkets, led by an increase in the Upper East Side, where the median home price rose 1.9 percent to $1,038,046. Prices in Downtown Manhattan remained flat at $1,691,204.
  • Inventory rose at a record pace. Sales inventory in Manhattan rose 16.7 percent year-over-year. The Upper East Side experienced the largest increase, with inventory up 20.2 percent since last year.
  • One out of every six homes received a discount. Sixteen percent of homes for sale were discounted, an increase of 3.6 percentage points year-over-year.
  • For-sale homes spent less time on the market. Units in the borough spent a median of 55 days on the market, a three-day dip from last year. The Upper East Side and Upper West Side were the only submarkets where homes lingered longer — up 10 days and 17 days, respectively.
  • Rents rose in every Manhattan submarket. The StreetEasy Manhattan Rent Indexiv rose 1.4 percent to $3,183. Rents in Upper Manhattan rose the most — up 2.5 percent to $2,307.
  • Fewer rentals offered a discount. Sixteen percent of rentals in Manhattan were discounted in May, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from last year.

May 2018 Key Findings — Brooklyn

  • Prices reached new highs in North Brooklyn. The StreetEasy North Brooklyn Price Index increased 11.1 percent to $1,229,838, a record high for the submarket despite the looming L train shutdown. Borough-wide, prices rose by just 1.1. percent since last year, to $720,555.
  • The number of homes with a price cut reached an all-time high. The share of sales with a price cut reached an all-time high of 12.4 percent, a rise of 3.3 percentage points from May 2017.
  • Sales inventory continued to climb, except in North Brooklyn. Sales inventory in the borough reached a record high — up 23.4 percent over last year. Inventory rose the most in South Brooklyn, which saw a 44.7 percent increase over last year. North Brooklyn was the only submarket where inventory dropped, by 6.7 percent since last year.
  • Brooklyn homes spent more time on the market. Homes stayed on the market for a median of 53 days in the borough, 6 more days than last year. North Brooklyn homes are coming off the market after an average of 43 days — 26 days faster than last year.
  • Rents rose in all submarkets except North Brooklyn. The StreetEasy Brooklyn Rent Index increased 1.4 percent year-over-year to $2,562. South Brooklyn experienced the largest spike: up 2.6 percent to a median rent of $1,885. North Brooklyn was the only submarket where rents stagnated, likely because of the L train shutdown starting in April 2019. Rents in the submarket remained flat at $3,062.

May 2018 Key Findings — Queens

  • Price cuts rose to an all-time high. The share of homes with a price cut reached a new high in Queens at 11.1 percent, an increase of 3.5 percentage points over last year.
  • Sales inventory swelled. Queens saw the largest year-over-year increase in inventory, rising 42.8 percent. All five submarkets in the borough saw a surge in inventory.
  • Queens homes are selling slightly faster than last year. The median number of days on market for Queens homes was 56, down 2 days from last year. Homes in Northeast Queens and Northwest Queens took longer to sell than last year, with an increase of 12 days and 6 days on the market, respectively.
  • Rents remained flat. The StreetEasy Queens Rent Index held at $2,113. But rents in South Queens rose 6.9 percent year-over-year, to a median of $1,775.
  • Queens was the only borough with an increase in the share of discounted rentals. Seventeen percent of Queens rentals offered discounts: up 2.9 percentage points over last year, and the highest share of the three boroughs analyzed.

The complete StreetEasy Market Reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, with additional neighborhood data and graphics, can be viewed at streeteasy.com/blog/research/market-reports/. Definitions of StreetEasy’s metrics and monthly data from each report can be downloaded at streeteasy.com/blog/download-data/.

About StreetEasy

StreetEasy is New York City’s leading local real estate marketplace on mobile and the web, providing accurate and comprehensive for-sale and for-rent listings from hundreds of real estate brokerages throughout New York City and the NYC metropolitan area. StreetEasy adds layers of proprietary data and useful search tools to help home shoppers and real estate professionals navigate the complex real estate markets within the five boroughs of New York City, as well as Northern New Jersey.

Launched in 2006, StreetEasy is based in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. StreetEasy is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).

StreetEasy is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

(i) The StreetEasy Market Reports are a monthly overview of the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens sales and rental markets. Every three months, a quarterly analysis is published. The report data is aggregated from public recorded sales and listings data from real estate brokerages that provide comprehensive coverage of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens with more than a decade of history for most metrics. The reports are compiled by the StreetEasy Research team. For more information, visit https://streeteasy.com/blog/research/market-reports/. StreetEasy tracks data for all five boroughs within New York City, but currently only produces reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

(ii) Sales inventory is the number of sales listings available on StreetEasy at any point during the month

(iii) The StreetEasy Price Indices track changes in resale prices of condo, co-op, and townhouse units. Each index uses a repeat-sales method of comparing the sales prices of the same properties since January 1995 in Manhattan and January 2007 in Brooklyn and Queens. Given this methodology, each index accurately captures the change in home prices by controlling for the varying composition of homes sold in a given month. Levels of the StreetEasy Price Indices reflect average values of homes on the market. Data on the sale of homes is sourced from the New York City Department of Finance. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/

(iv) The StreetEasy Rent Indices utilize a similar methodology to the StreetEasy Price Indices and include only valid and verified listings from StreetEasy. By employing a repeat-rentals approach, the indices emphasize the changes in rent on individual properties and not between different sets of properties. Full methodology here: http://streeteasy.com/blog/methodology-price-and-rent-indices/

One Third of New Yorkers Go Over Budget on Housing Costs; Millennials Most Likely to Spend More

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StreetEasy’s NYC Housing & Moving Trends Report explores perceptions of affordability among New York renters and owners, their plans to move, and the motivations behind their housing decisions

New York, NY – Feb. 20, 2018 (PRNewswire) New Yorkers pay 1.3 times more for housing in absolute terms than average Americans(i). To accommodate high housing costs, nearly one third of New Yorkers (31 percent) exceeded their initial budget on their current home, according to the new StreetEasy New York City Housing & Moving Trends Report(ii). Homeowners were more likely to overspend: 37 percent went over their initial home budget, compared to 27 percent of renters.

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The StreetEasy report surveyed 1,000 renters and homeowners living across all five boroughs, and details the ways New Yorkers struggle to find an affordable home after the rapid rise in prices and rents over the last decade. According to the survey, there are stark differences in how different generations, homeowners, and renters tackle and perceive the high costs of housing in New York City.

Millennials(iii) are more likely than any other generation to exceed their budget, with 45 percent choosing a more expensive home than they’d planned on, compared to 30 percent of Generation Xers and 19 percent of baby boomers. Millennials are also most likely to consider buying a home in the next year, with more than one third (34 percent) hoping to do so.

Real Estate Infographic

“Younger New Yorkers, many of whom came to New York City to take advantage of the career opportunities it offers, are finding a housing market that is expensive, fast-moving and highly competitive,” said StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long. “But despite facing rising housing costs and budgeting constraints, aspirations of owning a home remain high in the city, particularly among millennials. While New Yorkers’ widespread desire to remain in the city is encouraging, the region’s continued success depends on maintaining an adequate supply of affordable homes that fit the priorities of its growing workforce.”

Most surveyed New Yorkers cited budget and number of bedrooms as the most important factors in a home, with 88 percent and 79 percent of residents citing them as a requirement or desire, respectively. Luxury amenities, such as doormen and gyms, ranked as the least important factors. Fifty-four and 64 percent of New Yorkers say these features had no impact on their home decision, respectively.

Asked to rate which factors they required or desired of their current neighborhood, safety and access to public transportation were most important to New Yorkers. Ninety percent of residents cite safety as a requirement or desire, and 87 percent mention access to public transportation — a pattern true for both owners and renters.

Additional report findings:

  • Many New Yorkers perceive New York City as unaffordable (46 percent). However, when asked to rate the affordability of their own homes, just 16 of New Yorkers say their home is unaffordable, revealing a dissonance in the perception of the city’s housing costs.
  • Most New Yorkers would recommend life in NYC (57 percent), particularly millennials (67 percent) and homeowners (65 percent).
  • Renters are significantly more likely to rate the cost of the city negatively: More than half (52 percent) of renters say New York City is unaffordable, compared to 39 percent of homeowners.
  • More than 1 in 3 New Yorkers plan to move in the next year. The majority are considering staying in their borough (71 percent); fewer plan to stay in their neighborhood (36 percent).
  • More than one third (39 percent) of New Yorkers cite the high cost of living as a top reason they would leave, with the desire for a bigger home and to buy a home also ranking highly (32 percent and 29 percent, respectively).

Access the full report:
The full StreetEasy NYC Housing & Moving Trends Report with additional findings and graphics is available to view and download at streeteasy.com/blog/2018-housing-moving-trends-report.

About StreetEasy
StreetEasy is New York City’s leading local real estate marketplace on mobile and the web, providing accurate and comprehensive for-sale and for-rent listings from hundreds of real estate brokerages throughout New York City and the NYC metropolitan area. StreetEasy adds layers of proprietary data and useful search tools to help home shoppers and real estate professionals navigate the complex real estate markets within the five boroughs of New York City, as well as Northern New Jersey.

Launched in 2006, StreetEasy is based in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. StreetEasy is owned and operated by Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).

StreetEasy is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.

(i) United States Census Bureau. 2012 – 2016 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey Office, 2016.

(ii) StreetEasy partnered with independent market research firm YouGov to conduct a representative online survey that was fielded in November 2017. The results underwent substantial internal analysis and review by researchers and economists at StreetEasy. This survey gathered information from 1,000 key household decision-makers living in all five boroughs of New York City. Roughly half of the respondents were renters and half were homeowners.

(iii) For the purposes of this report, StreetEasy defined each generation breakdown as the following: generation Z, 18–22 years old; millennials, 23–37 years old; Generation Xers, 38–52 years old; baby boomers, 53–72 years old; and silent generation, 73 years old and above.