NEW YORK - New York City's housing crunch is the worst it has been in more than 50 years.
The portion of rentals that was vacant and available dropped to a startling 1.4 per cent in 2023, according to city data released on Feb 8. It was the lowest vacancy rate since 1968 and shows just how drastically home construction lags behind the demand from people who want to live in the city.
Housing experts often consider a "healthy" vacancy rate to be somewhere around 5 per cent to 8 per cent.
A higher vacancy rate typically means it is easier for people to find apartments when they want to move.
It also means that property owners are more likely to have to compete for renters, conditions that would moderate rent increases.
The data suggests that New York City's housing crisis is only getting worse. The 1.4 per cent rate was down from 4.5 per cent in 2021, the last time the survey was conducted.
New York officials consider a vacancy rate of less than 5 per cent to be a "housing emergency".
"The data is clear: The demand to live in our city is far outpacing our ability to build housing," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement announcing the numbers on Feb 8.
This story is from the February 13, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the February 13, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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