New Yorkers Willing to Spend for Housing: New Data from StreetEasy

Despite the high cost of living in New York City, most New Yorkers are making it work, often by blowing past what they thought they would spend on housing. Most New Yorkers (46%) say that the city is an unaffordable place to live — but just 16% of New Yorkers say their own home is unaffordable, according to the new StreetEasy New York City Housing & Moving Trends Report.

Most would recommend life in NYC (57 percent), particularly Millennials (67 percent). That’s even though New Yorkers pay 1.3 times more for housing in absolute terms than average Americans, according to StreetEasy’s analysis of Census data.

To accommodate high housing costs, nearly one third of New Yorkers (31 percent) exceeded their initial budget on their current home.

“While New Yorkers’ widespread desire to remain in the city is encouraging, the region’s continued success depends on maintaining an adequate supply of affordable homes that fit the priorities of its growing workforce,” indicated Greg Long, senior economist for StreetEasy.

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