Queens had a significant amount of housing units enter the pre-development stage, enter construction and be completed during the third quarter of 2025, according to a report by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).
In early 2024, elected officials in New York City set a goal of adding 500,000 new housing units in the city by 2034, with tax incentives being enacted by city and state leaders in an effort to encourage the creation of more multifamily developments and office-to-residential conversions to help achieve this goal. Land use changes have also been undertaken by these leaders to facilitate development. The growing number of housing units in the pre-development and construction stages, as well as those completed, have all been tracked since the first quarter of 2024.
Queens was ranked second among all New York City boroughs in the number of housing units to enter the pre-development stage from the first quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025, at 12,155. This accounts for approximately 26% of the 47,124 units across all of New York City to reach this phase over this period of time. Only Brooklyn had more, with 13,984.
There was a similar trend among the 66,162 units completed from the first quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025. Queens ranked second in this area too, accounting for 16,767 (25%) of the completed units. Once again, only Brooklyn had more units completed, with 26,563.
Of the 74,787 housing units to enter the construction phase across New York City over this period of time, Queens accounted for around 20% of the projects, with 14,883. Brooklyn led the way in this field as well, with 29,361 such projects. Unlike with the units to enter pre-development or finish being developed, Manhattan had a higher number of units to enter construction than Queens, with 15,767.
Overall, permit data from the first quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025 shows that 66,162 housing units out of the 2034 goal of 500,000 have been completed, marking an average of 9,452 per quarter. Such an average would result in the city falling short of its ten-year goal, as 12,500 was the necessary average. Now, as a result of consistent underproduction, the quarterly average the rest of the way must be 13,147 units completed in order for 500,000 new units to be made by the start of 2034.
