Greenwich Village Rents Rose Amid NYC's Reopening: Study

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — After slumping for months during the pandemic, rent prices are on the rebound in Greenwich Village and the West Village as the city recovers from the pandemic, according to a new study.

The StreetEasy study, which examined real estate listings across the city during the second quarter of 2021, found that it costs more to rent an apartment in both Greenwich Village and the West Village than it did during the year's first quarter.

This upward trend started in spring 2021, as the city expanded vaccine eligibility and workers who left during the pandemic began to return to the city.

Here's a breakdown across Greenwich Village and the West Village:

Greenwich Village

• Q2 median asking rent: $3,198 (Up from 2021 first-quarter median rent of $3,050 but still 9.60 percent down from this time last year.)
• Q2 median asking home price: $1,549,000 (Up from 2021 first-quarter median home asking price of $1,396,500 during the first quarter of 2021, and up 4.30 percent from this time last year.

West Village

• Q2 median asking rent: $3,295 (Up from 2021 first-quarter median rent of $3,095 but still 10.40 percent down from this time last year.)
• Q2 median asking home price: $1,497,500 (Up from 2021 first-quarter median home asking price of $1,337,500 but down 34.50 percent from this time last year.)

When rents first began ticking up in April, an industry expert predicted that it would be a sign of things to come.

"All in all, it appears that the days of record low rents may be coming to an end," StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu said.

Still, Wu cautioned that New York is "not on solid ground just yet," citing high unemployment, a huge number of empty apartments and the likely persistence of work-from-home, which could shake up the city's geography.

Patch writer Kayla Levy contributed to this report.