Real Estate
Long Island City Rents Cut Amid Coronavirus Pandemic: Study
Over a fifth of Long Island City rentals were discounted last month, and rents may soon drop even further, a new StreetEasy report says.
LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Long Island City rents are dipping as landlords struggle to find tenants during the coronavirus pandemic, and prices could keep dropping for the rest of the year.
A StreetEasy analysis of more than 700 Long Island City apartment listings in May found that nearly 21 percent were advertising discounts, compared to less than 10 percent at the same time last year.
The extent of the discounts signals that lower rents are on the horizon, according to StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu.
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"The growth in rental discounts is a strong indication that demand for apartments in NYC is declining overall," Wu wrote in the report. "Though they’ve been rising for years, we could see NYC rents falling soon."
The discounts didn't apply to all types of apartments equally, though.
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Studio apartments and units that rent for between $2,000 and $5,000 are likeliest to see discounts, the report says.
Even so, renters should ask landlords about a price cut even when discounts aren't advertised in the listing, given that the changing market may make them more open to negotiating, the researchers advised.
Patch editor Anna Quinn contributed to this report.
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