Real Estate
Despite Demand, Forest Hills Homes Remain Cheaper Than Pre-COVID
Forest Hills' housing market has been called one of the "hottest" in Queens, but the area remains more affordable than it was two years ago.
FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Despite the growing popularity of outer borough home ownership, the cost of buying a house in many Queens neighborhoods is still cheaper than it was before the pandemic — including in Forest Hills, a new study found.
In most of NYC, the median asking rent and home sale prices for residences remained lower during the third quarter of 2021 compared with that same period in 2019, before COVID decimated the city’s housing market, StreetEasy data shows.
That includes Forest Hills, where home prices are more than $52,000 less than they were in 2019, and asking rents are $225 cheaper, according to the study.
Find out what's happening in Forest Hillsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Compared to last quarter, however, rent prices are actually up by $50, which signifies the market’s gradual stabilization in Forest Hills, where rents dropped precipitously throughout the pandemic.
By contrast, home prices are continuing to drop in the neighborhood, affirming an earlier finding by StreetEasy that Forest Hills is one of the best Queens areas for some first-time home buyers.
Find out what's happening in Forest Hillsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Other Queens neighborhoods where 2021 rents are still at least $100 lower than pre-pandemic include Astoria, Jackson Heights, Ridgewood, Elmhurst, and Sunnyside.
Some popular commuter neighborhoods, however, like Long Island City, are seeing rent hikes, the study found.
Overall, the market still benefits “highly mobile renters who can afford the most expensive areas” and are willing to do “everything they can to snag a lease in the neighborhood of their choosing,” StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu said. She expects this trend will continue until winter, when fewer people are typically looking to move.
People with a lower budget should not be discouraged, Wu said, but should keep in mind that any given apartment probably has multiple people vying for it already.
"Use all the tools at your disposal to your advantage during the rental search to help save you time and money," Wu said.
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