Homes Near Every Forest Hills Subway Stop Saw Rent Drops: Study

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — As the pandemic swept through New York last year homes located near New York City subway stops saw precipitous rent drops, including declines at all four stations in Forest Hills, according to a new study.

The report, released Monday by RentHop found that one-bedroom rents decreased at 88 percent of subway stations — amounting to 418 out of the city’s 473 stations — from 2020 to 2021.

The findings included all four subway stations in Forest Hills, where nearby rents fell by as much as 9.8 percent year-over-year, the study found.

Here are the rent drops on one-bedroom apartments at each Forest Hills subway station:

• 67th Avenue — E/M/R trains ($1,800 median rent; year over year change of -9.8%)
• Forest Hills–71st Avenue — E/F/M/R trains ($1,850 median rent; YoY -7.5%)
• 75th Avenue — E/F trains ($1,888 median rent; YoY -4.3%)
• Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike — E/F trains ($1,850 median rent; YoY -3.1%)

According to this data, the rent drops in Forest Hills were greatest at subway stations closer to Manhattan, and decreased nearby train stops that are farther into the borough.

This trend matches the study’s finding that four of the five biggest rent drops occurred near subway stations in Manhattan, where rents dropped by as much as 23 percent.

Only 35 train stops across New York City saw nearby one-bedroom apartments increase in rent, including stations in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Eastern Brooklyn.

Here are the top five subway stations with nearby rent increases on one-bedroom apartments:

• 167th St. — B/D trains ($1,795 median rent; YoY 5.6% increase)
• 238th St. — 1 train; ($1,890 median rent; YoY 5.2% increase)
• Far Rockaway/Mott Ave. — A train ($1,673 median rent; YoY 4.6% increase)
• New Lots Ave. — 3/4 trains ($1,724 median rent; YoY 4.5% increase)
• 183rd St and Fordham Rd. — 4 train ($1,775 median rent; YoY 4.4% increase)

Of these five stations which saw the biggest nearby rent increases, three are in the Bronx, one is in Eastern Brooklyn, and one is in Far Rockaway — all in areas primarily populated by New Yorkers of color who earn lower median incomes than other areas of the city, according to census data looking at demographics and economics.

“The neighborhoods that are higher income are seeing price drops just because wealthier people are more mobile; but that story is not reflected in what’s happening in most of the city,” Oksana Mironova, a policy analyst at Community Service Society told Curbed, who reported a piece last year on rent increases in neighborhoods hit hardest by the pandemic.

“And I think for most people, they’re living in the midst of a really, really, scary time with a pandemic plus an economic crisis where housing remains extremely expensive. It’s a triple crisis and it’s all interconnected,” she concluded.

Find the full study from RentHop here.