Here's How Much Northwest Queens Rents Dropped In 2020: Study

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — The economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic is driving down rents in Northwest Queens, a new study found.

Rents in Long Island City, Astoria and Sunnyside dropped 15.3 percent in November compared to the same time last year, hitting a median asking rent of $2,159, according to StreetEasy's November 2020 Market Report.

Astoria rents were down 13 percent, hitting a median price of $2,000. Rents in Long Island City decreased by 7.6 percent, to a median asking rent of $3,000. And Sunnyside rents were down 10.8 percent to $1,829, the report said.

Northwest Queens far outpaced the rest of the borough in terms of rent decreases.

Across Queens, rental prices dropped 5.7 percent in November compared to the same time in 2019.

Still, the declines were notable across Queens, whose relatively stable population means housing metrics tend not to fluctuate as much as they do in other boroughs, where residents move around more, the StreetEasy report found.

Even the 2008 financial crisis did little to sway rents in Queens, reports said at the time.

"We expected the rental market to match the weakness seen during the Great Recession, but the fact that the market has surpassed that level in less than one year shows how serious the crisis caused by the pandemic has been," StreetEasy Economist Nancy Wu said.

Read the full StreetEasy report here.