According to a study, apartment sizes in Manhattan have increased in size. However, despite the new rental possibilities that may exist in the borough, they are still the smallest living spaces in New York City, according to a study published by RentCafe.
It should be taken into account that the average rent price reached the highest peak in its history last January with a 13% increase, representing a value of $5,142. In 2022, the same study showed that the average rent would be $4,097, according to the Real State firm Douglas Elliman. Rent Cafe states that despite this increase in size, apartments in Manhattan are still relatively smaller than apartments in Queens and Brooklyn, according to NBC New York.
In that sense, an average Manhattan apartment is now 740 square feet and is worth around $5,000, while an apartment in the same conditions in Long Island is worth $3,859.
Not only has the cost of rent gone up in New York, RealtyHop, a real estate site, published during the month of February that the Big Apple real estate market is distinguishing itself for its high costs and scarcity of offers. The average purchase price of a home in the city is quoted at $840,000.
Yet the website notes that a one-bedroom home can cost anywhere from $315,000 to as much as $725,000.
High cost of living in New York
In March 2020, The Economist published a survey that found that 35% of New Yorkers bemoaned the high cost of living in the state and 41% in New York City, the most expensive city in the United States. “The cost of living in New York City is 26% higher than the state average and 95% higher than the national average (…) New York is 258% more expensive than the U.S. average,” RentCafe notes when conducting an apartment search in the Big Apple.
In January 2020, before the pandemic hit, Staten Island Republican Councilman Joe Borelli said that immigrants and native New Yorkers are fleeing or bypassing New York because it has become unaffordable.
In addition, a real estate firm Zillow study found that singles are paying an average of $19,500 more in all boroughs per year for a room compared to someone living with a roommate in the same area. In Manhattan, this figure rises to $24,000, making it the most expensive city to be single.
The high cost of living is reportedly causing an “exodus from the city.” A census conducted in early 2023, the number of black residents has declined by more than 125,000 in the last 20 years, a drop of more than 6%. In this study, the researchers also noted that New York’s housing crisis is spurring endless disputes over affordability and whether more should be done to preserve the roof over the heads of those at the lowest income levels.
On the other hand, immigrants and a natural increase in births over deaths generally offset New York’s domestic migration exodus. But foreign immigration has also plummeted. According to several international media outlets, immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, are reportedly leaving the city because of insecurity and better living conditions.