Apartments Have Gotten Cheaper Near These NYC Subway Stops

NEW YORK, NY — New York City renters pay more to live close to the subway even despite the system's struggles. But rents have actually dropped near many train stations over the past year — including about half the stops in Manhattan, according to a new data analysis by RentHop.

The apartment rental website examined how median monthly net effective rents for one-bedroom apartments near subway stops changed from 2017 to 2018. The analysis looked at 50 unique listings from February through April of each year located within 0.6 miles of a subway stop. The radius was expanded to 1.2 miles if there were fewer than 50 listings.

About half of Manhattan's stops and several stations in Brooklyn saw prices decrease year over year, "mostly related to more supply than demand," according to RentHop.

That includes 34th Street-Herald Square — the median one-bedroom rent near one of the subway system's busiest stations fell 8.2 percent to $3,350.

Some downtown stations also saw big drops. Median rent near the City Hall R/W stop fell 11.3 percent to $2,915, while the Chambers Street 1/2/3 stop saw a decrease of 10.1 percent to $3,550.

Renters relying on the G train in Greenpoint, Brooklyn saw a huge decrease over the past year — rents near the Nassau Avenue stop fell 20 percent to $2,375.

Prices near every station on the L line either dropped or increased no more than 2 percent as the MTA prepares to shut down service into Manhattan next year, RentHop's analysis shows. The median one-bedroom pads near the Bedford Avenue stop in Williamsburg was going for $3,122 earlier this year, a 2.5 percent decrease from last year.

Several stops in northwest Queens also saw effective rents decrease as landlords offer "concessions" to draw tenants to the area, RentHop says. Prices near the 39th Avenue N/W station in Long Island City, for example, fell 9.2 percent to $2,200.

The Bronx is bucking the trend, as many of that borough's stations saw rents go up, the analysis shows. Prices near some stops close to Manhattan increased more than 5 percent, including the Jackson Avenue 2/5 stop in Woodstock, where rents rose 9.9 percent to $1,735.

Some hot Manhattan stations have seen price jumps too. Rents near the East Broadway F stop in Chinatown rose more than 14 percent to $2,825, RentHop says, while the Harlem-148th Street 3 stop saw an 8.6 percent increase to $1,900.

Take a look at RentHop's interactive map to see what the typical one-bedroom is going for near your station, and how rents changed from last year to this year.

(Lead image: Photo by Maria Cormack-Pitts/Patch)