Astoria, LIC Rents Soar As Pandemic Deals 'Expire,' Study Finds

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The dream of a pandemic-induced bargain apartment in Western Queens is officially dead: rents in Astoria and Long Island City have soared by hundreds of dollars as available homes are quickly snatched up, according to a new study.

The report by StreetEasy, released Thursday, examined listings across the city during the first quarter of 2022.

Among its findings: the median asking rent in Astoria rose from $1,900 last year to $2,300 during this year's first quarter — a 21.1 percent increase. Long Island City saw a nearly identical, 22-percent rise, from $2,936 in 2021 to $3,595 this year.

Both are in line with the rest of the study, which also found that the median asking rent in Manhattan has reached the highest level that the company has ever recorded, at $3,695 during Q1 2022.

The obvious conclusion, according to StreetEasy, is that "pandemic deals have expired," as the real estate market appears white-hot compared to the doldrums of 2020. Indeed, as demand has risen, the number of available apartments has continued to fall, with 9,825 apartments on the market during Q1 of this year compared to 16,570 last year — a 40.7-percent drop.

Across Queens, the median asking rent rose 15.1 percent to $2,300 during the first quarter of 2022 — the borough's highest level since the start of 2020, just before the pandemic hit.

But there are signs that the freefall may be ending soon, along with the upward price spiral: the number of available apartments is shrinking more slowly than it did last year, and even increased slightly between March and April, the study found.

"Renters are generally in a tougher position than they normally are this time of year, but those able to take over the lease on a pandemic-deal apartment may have more luck," Zllow economist Joshua Clark said in a statement.

"There could be a mass exodus of renters priced out of their apartments in the coming months that could help alleviate the weaker than normal supply of rental inventory."

As for the sales market, Queens is something of an exception to the citywide rule, as the only borough where asking prices dropped and inventory increased at the start of this year.

Overall, Astoria and Long Island City's asking rents rank them 74th and 31st, respectively, of the 153 New York neighborhoods included in the StreetEasy study. Both are well ahead of neighborhoods like Forest Hills, Sunnyside and Elmhurst, but also far cheaper than pricy locales like Tribeca, Flatiron and the West Village, whose rents range between $4,500 and $7,250.

Read the full StreetEasy report here.