A new study has found that New Yorkers are among the least satisfied renters in the country, largely due to the fact that rental costs are so high.
To conduct the study, apartment-searching website Abodo analyzed data from the 2015 U.S. Census’s American Housing Survey in an effort to quantify the satisfaction of renters in 25 different cities. The researchers found that New Yorkers, which included Newark and Jersey City for the purposes of this study, are among the least satisfied renters. In fact, the only three cities that ranked lower were residents of Los Angeles at 23rd, Cleveland residents at 24 and Memphis residents at 25. On the other end of the spectrum, residents of Raleigh were the most satisfied, followed by Kansas City in second place and Washington DC residents in third place.
Measuring Satisfaction
To measure the level of satisfaction of residents of various cities, the researchers utilized two scales. The first was neighborhood satisfaction, which examined how renters rated their area in terms of school quality, crime, litter and public transportation. The second scale examined home satisfaction, including issues such as mold, heating, rodents, roaches, leaks, missing walls and holes in the roof.
While New York residents were moderately enthusiastic about their neighborhoods, with an 11th place ranking in terms of neighborhood satisfaction, they were far less enthusiastic about their actual apartments. In fact, on this particular scale, the city ranked 21st and scored the worst in two of its categories: “being uncomfortably cold for 24 hours or more” and “not having a working toilet at some point in the last three months.” While the city did not come in first in terms of roach infestations, the study did find that it took the number one position in terms of problems with rats.
Market Showing Some Signs of Rental Relief
While rents in New York City remain high, the rental market is showing some small signs of relief when compared to last year. In fact, the October rental report released by Douglass Elliman has shown that the median rent has fallen when compared to last year in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
In Manhattan, the median net effective rent when comparing year-to-year data fell by 0.2 percent to $3,330. The net effective median rent also fell in Brooklyn for the sixth consecutive month, this time falling by 2.9 percent to $2,760. Meanwhile, Queens experienced year-over-year declines of 0.5 percent to $2,817.
While the median rent prices are down, prices on the luxury side of the rental market remain high. This is largely due to the new, high-end developments that have recently come on the market, which has skewed the figures. Many of these new apartments are on the lower end of luxury, making them what is known as “affordable luxury” apartments.
For those who are not interested in high-end apartments and who are looking for some relief, perks such as a month of free rent are still being used by many landlords to lure renters. In fact, the number of new rental transactions with concessions was 28 percent in Manhattan last month. This is up from the previous month at 23.9 percent.