Finding an NYC apartment to rent for under $2,400 is nearly impossible: Report
NEW YORK - According to a new report, renters have less than a 1% chance of finding an apartment that costs less than $2,400 a month in New York City.
The report, by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, found just 1.4% of apartments in the city were available to rent in 2023, the lowest since 1968.
Less than 1% of vacant apartments were available for less than $2,400 a month, while just 0.39% of apartments under $1,100 were vacant.
"The data is clear: the demand to live in our city is far outpacing our ability to build housing. New Yorkers need our help, and they need it now," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a press release.
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The survey, conducted from January to mid-June 2023, showed that the city’s net housing stock only increased by about 60,000 units – a 2% rise that falls short of accommodating the 275,000 new households in the city.
Researchers found that even in high-cost homes, availability was limited with a mere 3.39% vacancy rate.
The overall number of units available for rent citywide sat at just 33,000 during the survey period.
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The report also underlined how difficult the financial strain of living in New York City has become for low-income households, with nearly all low-income New Yorkers spending more than 30% of their income on rent.
In response, city officials are advocating for significant public investment and land-use changes to combat the crisis.
"The historic low vacancy rate from the 2023 Housing Vacancy Survey illustrates the pressures New Yorkers are facing in the housing market, and underscores the dramatic need for more homes in New York City, especially for lower income New Yorkers," said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. "To meet this need and turn the tide on our long-standing housing crisis, we need action from colleagues across the City and State to support our housing agenda, and to advance proposals and projects that will allow us to build and preserve more housing in every neighborhood across the city."