Astoria rents jump 9% in a year
The median one-bedroom now costs $3,150 a month. Brokers blame the N train, the new ferry, the restaurants and, in one listing, "excellent rooftop visibility."
The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Astoria rose 9 percent in the 12 months to September, to $3,150 a month, according to figures compiled by the Bugle from 1,400 listings. It is the fastest rise of any neighbourhood in Queens, and faster than every neighbourhood in Manhattan except one.
Brokers offer the usual reasons: the N train, the restaurants on 30th Avenue, the ferry from Hallets Cove. One broker offered an unusual one. "People want to see him," she said. "They won't say it. But a top-floor place with a view of the bridge, where he goes past at night? That rents in a day."
The numbers
The Bugle's figures show the sharpest increases on the blocks nearest the river, where the median one-bedroom now asks $3,600. Further east, toward Steinway Street, the median is $2,800, up 6 percent.
Studios rose 11 percent, to a median of $2,500. Two-bedrooms rose 7 percent, to $3,900.
“A top-floor place with a view of the bridge, where he goes past at night? That rents in a day.”
Rental broker, 31st Street
The listing
One listing, for a fifth-floor walk-up on 14th Street, drew attention last week for a line under "Features" that read: "Excellent rooftop visibility." Asked what that meant, the broker said it meant the roof was easy to see from the window.
"That's all it means," he said. "I'm not going to say what people think it means. It rented in four hours. Draw your own conclusions."
Who is leaving
Tenants who cannot absorb the increases are moving east to Woodside and Jackson Heights, where one-bedrooms remain under $2,600, or across the river to the Bronx. A tenants' group in Astoria said it had fielded 300 calls about rent increases since July, "about double last year."
"We're being priced out by the train, the ferry and a guy in tights," the group's organiser said. "At least two of those are the landlord's fault."
The outlook
Brokers expect increases to slow over the winter, as they usually do, before resuming in the spring. The Bugle expects the rooftop line to appear in more listings. We have seen two already.