Even more expensive than San Francisco!
The rental platform Zumper recently released a report stating that NYC rent has in fact surpassed all other U.S. city’s in cost.
With San Francisco as the old title holder, New York is now “the most expensive market in the country with a median one-bedroom rent of $2,810. San Francisco’s median is $2,800,” shared the report. This can be credited to consequences of COVID-19.
Both cities faced major drops in rental costs at the start of the pandemic when renters were evacuating the cities in droves. Median rent in San Francisco dropped by 23.4% in March 2020 and by 17.5% in New York City, according to the report.
However, upon the distribution of the vaccine, many people have since returned to New York. This has resulted in a direct increase in NYC rent—almost back to pre-pandemic prices! “[Specifically,] since January, New York [rent] has risen by 19.6 percent and is now down only 1.4 percent relative to March 2020.”
In contrast, San Francisco’s return rate has not been as dramatic as New York’s, with rent still down 20% relative to March 2020.
Zumper shared that this can be a result of San Francisco tech companies more so implementing permanent WFH policies that allow employees to live wherever “and many of them have decided they don’t want to live in San Francisco.” Whereas in NYC, the vaccine has reopened many of the popular attractions such as dining and other “urban amenities” that draw people to the city.
As of now, it’s still a question whether NYC will remain in the number spot or if it’s just a temporary title—but for our sake, let’s hope it won’t last!