Asking Price For Inwood Homes Are Up 15 Percent From Last Year

INWOOD, NY — Inwood residents are looking to get more bang for their buck on neighborhood homes in 2021 than they did in 2020. A new study by StreetEasy, released Wednesday, examined real estate listings across the city during the month of April and compared them to the same time last year.

For the city as a whole, it found that after declining for 12 consecutive months, asking rents stabilized in April, with the citywide median rent rising to $2,499 — $4 higher than in March.

The study broke down the real estate market by neighborhood and found that people are asking 15 percent more for homes in Inwood in April of 2021 vs. April of 2020. The median asking price last month for a home in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood was $485,000.

15 percent might seem like a steep jump in asking price from year to year, but it helps to contextualize that New York City was the coronavirus epicenter of the world last April. It was not the opportune time to buy or sell a new home in the five boroughs.

In terms of rent in Inwood, the median asking rent in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood was $1,899 in April 2021 — down 8.50 percent from last year.

"Not on solid ground"

StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu cautioned that New York is "not on solid ground just yet" when it comes to the stabilization of rent, citing high unemployment, a huge number of empty apartments and the likely persistence of work-from-home, which could shake up the city's geography.

Across Manhattan, median asking rents rose by $14 last month — up to $2,799. (The pre-pandemic figure, meanwhile, stood at $3,400.)

But "there are still deals to be had," StreetEasy writes, noting that a record-high 45.2 percent of Manhattan rentals offered at least a month of free rent as a concession in April.

Other notable trends include declining inventory as more available rentals get snatched up. Across the city, the number of open rentals shrunk by 26 percent last month compared to August's record high.

In Manhattan, there were 28,185 apartments up for rent last month — a 32 percent decline compared to August.

"The summertime, which in the past was peak renter season, will look very different this year," Wu said.

"Commute times have become obsolete for some, opening up flexibility for when to sign a lease. This means that city renters can take their time to move, and rents will creep back up slowly."

Read the full StreetEasy report here.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.