New Yorkers spend an average of $10,454 up front to rent a unit

Real estate

by Hannah Freshberg

Moving is always a big pain — but new data shows that for New Yorkers, it's also more expensive than many can afford.

Moreover, the average cost of renting a new apartment in New York City has become so expensive that many renters are forced to remain in these units, Latest report from StreetEasy has been found.

According to Listing Gateway's findings, the average renter in New York currently needs to pay a whopping $10,454 in upfront costs before they can move — the highest upfront cost the service has recorded since it began tracking it in 2010.

That's a 7.1% increase from the 2022 average initial cost of $9,763 — and a 28.7% jump from the pre-pandemic average of $8,125 in 2019. These numbers declined during 2020, when a number of New Yorkers left the city and created An abundance of rental units. , making prices cheaper. But starting in 2021, landlords raised prices significantly higher, and since then those upfront costs have taken a vertical course.

The rise in these costs – which generally include the first month's rent, security deposit and broker fees – has created a “lock-in effect” where tenants cannot afford to move out.

The company found that broker fees make up the bulk of upfront costs, and city residents who pay one as a condition of their lease are nearly twice as likely, or 42.9%, in upfront costs as those who don't on average. .

This is especially brutal for low-income New Yorkers, notes StreetEasy. Those earning the median household income in the Bronx can afford less than 1% of out-of-town rents, StreetEasy reported. Across the board, this average cost is still more than five times higher than the average $2,000 cash balance American renters have in checking, savings or money market accounts.

Locally, renters in the Bronx earning a median income of $45,517 need to spend 15.4% of that annual income on these initial expenses, representing the largest burden in the city. And in Manhattan, where the median income of about $96,000 is the highest within city limits, tenants must pay roughly 13% of annual earnings to secure a new lease.

The report concludes that the situation is “not beneficial to the rental market as a whole,” and requires the enactment of further policies to make the market more transparent and manage tenants’ “financial obligations” to their landlords.