NYC Rents, Home Prices Continue Drop In January: Study

NEW YORK CITY — Prospective renters and buyers in New York City got a mixed bag of news from a raft of recent studies on the city's pandemic-stricken real estate sector.

The good news: the city's rents and home prices dropped at their fastest recorded annual rate in January, according to a new StreetEasy study.

The not-so-good news, at least for sellers: home prices could continue to fall.

“It’s rare that we see record high price drops in both the rentals and sales market, but landlords and sellers are dealing with the same issue right now — a surplus of competition and not enough demand,” Nancy Wu, an economist with StreetEasy, said in a statement. “Asking prices and monthly rents are coming down quickly, which means that landlords and sellers are finally facing reality. With inventory levels as high they are, there’s currently no end in sight when it comes to falling NYC real estate prices — good news for buyers and renters hoping to secure a good deal this year.”

So how low are rents reaching?

Manhattan's typical rent was $2,750, a 15.5 percent drop from last year.

For Brooklyn and Queens, rents dropped 8.6 percent to $2,395 and $2,000, respectively, according to the study.

Home prices fell in Manhattan and Brooklyn by 6.2 percent and 5.4 percent, the study found.

Median home prices were still high — $1.35 million in Manhattan and $925,000 in Brooklyn, according to the study.

And another study by SmartAsset found New York City is the second most expensive city for home buyers among the 15 largest in the nation.

SmartAsset calculated that New York City's citywide median home value of $680,800 required a monthly home payment of $2,966.

That would require a $98,867 annual salary, assuming the buyer doesn't have debt, according to the study.

For buyers with $1,000 of monthly debt, they would need to make $132,200 a year, the study found.