Crown Heights Apartment Interest Spikes Despite NYC Housing Slump

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Renters still flocked to Crown Heights apartments even as the coronavirus pandemic slumped the majority of New York City's housing market, a new study found.

Interest in apartments in the neighborhood jumped 26 percent in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same time period last year, according to a recent report from the New York City real estate website RentHop.

The spike was the 16th-largest leap for rental demand in neighborhoods across the city, almost all of which were in Brooklyn and Queens.

The data showed that the outer boroughs' housing markets weren't as impacted by the COVID-19 as Manhattan, where reduced demand meant dips in rental prices, researchers at RentHop concluded.

"In Brooklyn, specifically, searches were only down by 8.1% year-over-year, and some neighborhoods farther away from the city center even saw spikes in inquiries," they wrote.

The neighborhood with the biggest spike in demand was Madison in Brooklyn, where inquiries from renters went up by more than 200 percent. Ocean Hill, "Central Slope" and East Flatbush also saw jumps in renter interest.

In Queens, Ditmars and Glendale saw the most interest, according to the study.

The housing market decline was on display in the more luxury neighborhoods in Manhattan.

The Flatiron District saw the most considerable decrease of any New York City neighborhood in its year-over-year price for a one-bedroom rent, according to the study. The Manhattan neighborhoods of Lincoln Square, Bowery, Chelsea, and Lenox Hill rounded out the top five most significant decreases.

The second quarter of the year is defined as being from April 17 to July 16.

You can read the full report on RentHop's website.