REAL ESTATE
Report: 29% of Queens residents say neighborhood is ‘unaff ordable’
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
While over one in four Queens locals
would call their neighborhood unaffordable,
Sales in Queens HOMES COOPS CONDOS Listings and photos courtesy MLSLI
NORTHEAST NORTHWEST SOUTHEAST SOUTHWEST
FLUSHING LONG ISLAND CITY ST. ALBANS WOODHAVEN
Under $500,000
241-20 Northern Blvd., Douglaston
$339,000
Co-op
2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom
Stephanie Belanich
Keller Williams Realty Landmark
$500,000-900,000
40-41 204th St., Bayside
$800,000
1-family Colonial
3 bedrooms, 1 ½ bathrooms
Jennifer Castellanos
Realty Connect USA
Over $900,000
77-02 164th St., Flushing
$1,350,000
1-family story and dwelling
5 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms
Rency Mejia
Voro LLC
Under $500,000
55-23 31st Ave., Woodside
$299,000
Co-op
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Maximillian Santos
Benjamin Realty Since 1980
$500,000-900,000
34-20 83rd St., Jackson Heights
$550,000
Condo
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Julia Kit Yeung
Excellent Realty
Over $900,000
13-09 40th Ave., Long Island City
$2,300,000
7-family apartment house
7 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
Rita Mahgereft eh
Prime Realty
Under $500,000
113-31 204th St., St. Albans
$498,000
1-family Tudor
3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Milton Hensley
H C Realty LLC
$500,000-900,000
249-01 87th Ave., Bellerose
$679,000
1-family Colonial
3 bedrooms, 1 ½ bathrooms
Yasantha Gurusinghe
Laff ey Real Estate
Over $900,000
186-32 Avon Road, Jamaica Estates
$1,950,000
1-family duplex
6 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms
Yuming Zhao
Lex Realty
Under $500,000
87-10 149th Ave., Howard Beach
$219,998
Condo
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Carolyn DeFalco
Keller Williams Realty Liberty
$500,000-900,000
94-29 96th St., Woodhaven
$589,000
1-family Colonial
4 bedrooms, 1 ½ bathrooms
Shahedul Islam
Winzone Realty
Over $900,000
93-19 71st Ave., Forest Hills
$1,249,000
1-family Colonial
4 bedrooms, 1 ½ bathrooms
David Yakubov
Trusted Property Advisors Corp
residents of the “World’s
Borough” remain loyal to their hometown
and would recommend it to a
friend, a recent report found.
According to a “Housing and Moving
Trends Report” released by StreetEasy,
29 percent of Queens residents believe
their neighborhood is unaff ordable,
while 18 percent believe their house
or apartment to be unaff ordable — the
highest percentage in the fi ve boroughs.
A total 55 percent of Queens residents
surveyed felt that New York City
as a whole was unaff ordable, which was
also the highest out of the fi ve boroughs.
StreetEasy attributed residents’ “negative
perceptions” toward the city’s
aff ordability to the high cost of homes
on the marketplace. Median asking
rents on real estate websites like
StreetEasy are generally higher than
median rents reported by the U.S.
Census, which takes publicly subsidized
homes and units subject to rent control
into account.
In Queens, median market rent registers
at $2,200 while median contract
rent is $1,291. Th e diff erences are “likely
to help fuel New Yorkers’ perceptions
of an unaff ordable city,” the report says.
Still, the city has seen a “rapid rise” in
home prices and rents over the last two
decades, researchers noted.
In spite of feelings of unaff ordability,
StreetEasy found that Queens residents
are more willing to recommend that a
friend move to their own neighborhood
than to any other New York City neighborhood:
56 percent would recommend
living in their own neighborhood, while
48 percent of locals would recommend
living in New York City in general.
On a citywide scale, nearly one in
three New Yorkers exceeded their initial
budget when purchasing or renting
their current residence and homebuyers
were more likely to overspend than
renters. Still, renters are more likely to
view cost of living in the city negatively,
with 52 percent calling New York City
unaff ordable compared to 39 percent of
homeowners.
While the report also found that New
Yorkers move oft en — 59 percent of all
New Yorkers under age 45 who rent
or own a home say they plan to move
in the next 12 months — they oft en
stay loyal to their borough. Of those
planning to move within the next 12
months, 71 percent said they would stay
in their borough.
But Queens residents stay put more
than the average New Yorker: 70 percent
of Queens residents surveyed said
they had no plans to move. Th is is
the second-highest percentage, behind
Staten Island. Moves are largely motivated
by better deals or rent stability.
Affordability is relative, says
StreetEasy, but New York City’s continued
success depends on ensuring homeowners
they will continue to be able to
aff ord the area’s housing costs. While
the city’s economic power makes it a
draw — researchers reference e-commerce
giant Amazon’s interest in the
city for its new headquarters as one
strong indicator — further growth is
“dependent on demonstrating to current
and future New Yorkers just how
much there is to love in the city and
assuring them that they will be able
to continue to reap the benefi ts of living
in such a dynamic place for years
to come.”
For the survey, StreetEasy gathered
information through an independent
research fi rm from 1,000 “key household
decision-makers” living in all fi ve
boroughs of New York City. View the
full report at www.streeteasy.com.