You are reading

High-income renters moving to Queens in big numbers

Jan. 4, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan

High-income renters are flooding into Queens, according to a recent study.

Wealthy residents of New York City have shown a preference for renting rather than owning homes over the last decade, a new report from RentCafe shows, with the number of affluent renters more than tripling in Queens over the last decade.

After Brooklyn, Queens has seen the second largest influx of wealthy renters over the last 10 years by percentage.

Queens saw a jump in high-income renters from 8,486 households to 29,473 households, or 247 percent, over the last decade, compared to the city as a whole, which saw an increase by 137 percent.

The report defined high-income renters as households earning more than $150,000 per year, and found that about a fifth of New York City renters qualified as high-income, or 211,482 households, which is more than all the affluent renters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Jose, and San Diego combined.

The report points out that an influx in wealthy renters is a sign of gentrification, with about seven percent of Queens renters now making more than $150,000 per year.

It also shows that citywide the gap between wealthy renters and wealthy homeowners is closing, indicating that owning a home in the city is becoming less affordable, with the median price of buying a home jumping by nearly 44 percent citywide in the last 10 years.

“The seemingly unstoppable growth rate is causing many well-to-do people to turn away from homeownership and choose to rent instead,” the report reads.

In Queens, there are nearly twice as many wealthy homeowners than wealthy renters, but homeownership in the bracket only increased by 111 percent over the last decade, with home prices in Queens rising by about 3.5 percent.

email the author: [email protected]

53 Comments

Click for Comments 
Hi end

Rich b- is your name dick or Richard? It must be dick because if you think a plumber who makes $50 per hr is alot of money, you dont know what alot of money is. Now go get my bags, and pick up a newspaper. Hurry now. Pauper!!!!!

Reply
Hi end

7 yeah i know all about guys like you. Ive owned buildings for the last 20 yrs. Alot of guys like you, looking to get over for a few months. No big deal thats part of doing business, the cost of doing business actually. Theres a whole lot of you out there but you know what? I still am the owner and your still a rental.

Reply
Hi end

No steerage,stupid, not bondage. Your the kind of neighbor im talking about and dont want to live next to. I dont want to live with nuts, day laborers, and baggage handlers. Im high end.

Reply
Hi end

Yo relax fellas, i want you around to fix things, carry stuff, wash the car but please i dont want live by you. Your steerage

Reply
Anonymous

Please folks, don’t take this guy’s bait If he was so “hi end”, he would know the difference between you’re & your.

Reply
Anonymous

Lucky-Im a landlord, thats not true. Depending on situations,you can get someone out in three months and keep any deposit . if they are single, young, working ,no kids, bye! If you have a single parent, forget it, most judges wont put a mother with kids out easily. Sounds like you go around stiffing your landlords.

Reply
Lucky 7

Thanks for the compliment of stiffing my landlords;) Yes, it is absolutely true, sir. Perhaps three months is possible, but its not that easy. By you assuming I stiff my landlords, you must know yourself that it is absolutely true.

Reply
Lucky 7

Lets not get hasty people, you saw this coming. “For tenants ” really works!! You can live rent free without paying a dime for at least 6 months, there is then no choice but to raise the rents and mAke insane requirements!

Reply
Anonymous

The bitter comments from heartless and soulless people reflects the decline of civility this neighborhood has been going through. Money attracts evil people. The comments here prove that.

Reply
Richie B

To hi end..re your comment about plumbers, carpenters having to leave, FYI, these so called low class people make more money than you’ll ever see and as for low class people, well, if the shoe fits..

Reply
Marty

I totally agree with richie b’s reply to Hi end. Who the $&@ does s/he think s/he is? I’d much rather live in an area with blue collar workers than a trashy person like Hi end any day!

Reply
Anonymous

The “rich” building in the picture needs to clean all the graffiti off its wall. It’s an eyesore. All these low rise condo buildings are gonna suck eventually. They’re already terrible at insuring they have enough in common fees to actually maintain the buildings properly. They are in for a bruising when new roofs and facade work is needed. One of the few ways in which a co-op structure is better.

Reply
pass the gray poupon please

Wonderful news- lets be honest, who wants to live in a poor class working neighborhood?

Reply
a.bidge

The influx of high net worth is great if they are going to use and support the neighborhood, pumping much needed money into local bars, restaurants, stores etc. But if they are just sleeping here and running off to Brooklyn/Manhattan to spend their hard earned cash, well then they are no good for us, merely driving the property prices up and giving back nothing. Its such a shame that’s the situation with Sunnyside.

Reply
Hi end

Kind of like this guy, go back to your couch, netflix? We need people with a purpose,people who can make it a better place with wealthy people

Reply
Fan of Dough Park, one of Des,dem,dose guys

” Wealthy equals better”? Bill Cosby is wealthy, want him next door? Making your wife a nice ” ice-tea”? Kardashians? You want Jeffrey Epstein in the same elevator as your 12 year old daughter? He’s really rich. He’s bill clintons buddy. The du Pont heir Robert H. Richards |V has loads of money, want him next to your kid? Wealth does not determine class. I’ll take a plumber who pays attention to his kids over a millionaire who kids are entitled pill-heads at 11.

Reply
Zach

Hey Fan of doughboy: Jeffrey Epstein is even better friends of Donald Trump. It’s public knowledge, there is even a recently published book outlining this and even a potential rape charge.

Reply
Fan of Dough Boy Park

Yep, it’s crazy what Epstein gets away with, it’s good to have friends on both sides off table I guess

Reply
Mac

Only a true weak minded imbecile would think a foreign power trying to undermine our election process and trying to control the out come of our election is something to joke about. Your candidate is more than likely a Russian agent. WOW you’re an idiot.

Reply
me

Only a weak minded imbecile would now believe the government agency who brought you Saddam Husseins WMD are to be trusted and that DNC operatives Donna brazille ,Debbie Schultz, etc who broke every law and common decency to help elect Hilary Clinton as the democratic party candidate would be good for this country

Reply
Angela

Me-How is that low wage right to work for less job treating you? How gullible are American voters who voted for Trump to help lift stagnant wages, when his VP has done everything in his power to do the opposite from passing RTW -Right to work for less legislation to blocking a bill that would restore overtime rules? You sound like a simpleton. Go back to your cable news network you sucker..

Reply
Zach

Me- You obviously have a low attention span and unable to stay on topic. Easily distracted.

Julia G.

Of course it means something! Not everyone wants to live in LIC bc there is more to do here. Renting a 1 bed in my building in Sunnyside went from $1800 to $2300 in just one year. Why?? Because they can afford it! If you are at the end of a lease on a middle class salary, you will be lucky to find a decent affordable rent in Sunnyside. Our kids grew up here, they are in school here, this is our neighborhood and we can’t afford to stay. Sad!

Reply
NewYorker

The US is becoming Brazil. A small elite rich demographic and a yuge poor one that does all the work for nothing. This is what they call “trickle down economics.” Trickle down right into the bank accounts and yachts and penthouses and imported sports cars for the corporate rich receiving corporate welfare.

Reply
Hi end

I think its good. More white collar, classier people. Get rid of the dese, dem and dose guys. Carpenters, plumbers, go, go ,go. Bring in bankers, guys with money? Executives. None of these side street bar people.

Reply
Hello

Well then don’t bother calling those people when your high end apartment needs repairs. Fix it yourself with your pretty little desk job hands. You’re the type of scum that walks around with their nose up in the air thinking you’re better than those that work blue collar jobs.

Reply
Craig

Plumbers, Carpenters are what built this city. Alot more interesting then some boring white collar people. For the record a union plumber does well enough to make $125,000 a year on a 35 hour work week. We give you the comfort you take for granted everyday. Im sure this was a post from some midwesterner or someone who has no clue. Its our city and you go away.

Reply
NewYorker

That’s exactly what trump and the conservative right want. If you’re going to be poor, get out of the city and go to rural america where you can drive around in a 20 year old pick up with a shotgun mounted behind the front seat. Good old fashioned american rednecks need to represent the poor. Not immigrants or minorities. They need to be segregated to areas where white people don’t live but service them like slaves. Like Manhattan, Brooklyn, and now Queens. You used to be able to live in NYC and not make bucketloads of money. Not anymore.

Reply
Geoffre

What a ridiculous and obviously ignorant comment., “New Yorker.” All of this pushing out the poor and middle class is happening in arguably one of the most “liberal” cities and in one of the most “liberal” states in the US. That’s what you “liberals” want, you progressives, you socialists. You hate the middle class! So you drive them out. You artificially drive up the prices of housing and then reap the rewards, and then listen to NPR so you can pretend you really care! This happens wherever progressives congregate. You name the place. San Francisco? LA? Boston? DC? There are too many to count.

Reply
Anonymous

you know what this all means? absolutely nothing, go on with your lives and get back on your couch and watch netflix

Reply
A.Bundy

It means my property value is going up, hopefully triple! best investment i’ve ever made!

Reply
Anonymous

And three of the five top ads on the right column of this page are from real estate companies! This site exists only because there are wealthier people in the area spending enough money to pay a few salaries.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News