Queens had the fifth-highest amount of rental activity across the United States through the first half of 2024, according to a report by the real estate searching site RentCafe.
Year-over-year, Queens had a 138% increase in page views on RentCafe from the first half of 2023 to 2024. This significant spike indicates more renters are looking for places to stay within the World’s Borough. It was also the biggest jump among all the places included in the top 10. RentCafe noted that contributing factors that helped set Queens apart from other New York City boroughs are easier commutes to and from school and work and housing options being more affordable when compared to bigger boroughs like Manhattan and Brooklyn.
While inventory of available apartments remains scarce in Queens, there is still overwhelmingly high demand. Over the same period of time, there was a 1% decrease in available apartments, further reflecting more demand to live there than available rentals. People have been working hard to take note of whatever few available units they do find, with saved searches for Queens properties on RentCafe increasing 6% from the first half of last year.
With many development and revitalization projects — including the Willets Point redevelopment plan — currently in the works across Queens, there is anticipation that Queens can experience further growth in people searching for apartments there. The goal of Phase One of the Willets Point redevelopment alone is to create 880 affordable housing units by 2026. Phase Two aims to bring in another 2,500 affordable homes, as well as new amenities and thousands of jobs across the next 30 years.
The final rankings were based upon the sum of scores given out across four categories. Availability of apartments was worth up to 40 points, page views accounted for up to 30 points, apartments saved as favorites and saved personalized searches each had a maximum of 15 points. Year-over-year percentage changes and overall volumes were considered for each score.
While four other places finished ahead of Queens, which had a score of 79.5, the New York City borough placed the highest in the northeastern United States region. Minneapolis, Minnesota place first in the U.S. with a perfect 100, followed by Overland Park, Kansas at 89.32, then Atlanta, Georgia at 85.47 and Cleveland, Ohio at 80.54.
