The View, where a $3.35 million condo sold
Aug. 9, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
The Long Island City real estate market is dominated by rentals, with permanent homes hard to come by, according to a recent report released by a New York real estate research firm.
The report, put out by Property Shark, noted that permanent residences make up less than one fifth of the housing stock in Long Island City. Its research found that there are 990 single and two family homes in the area and 4,056 condos/co-ops.
Despite the shortage of owner occupied housing, the units are not fetching the same prices as, say, Williamsburg, which is located on the Brooklyn waterfront and also has train access.
The most expensive residential unit to be sold in Long Island City was an 1,800 square-foot condo for $3.35 million in 2014. In comparison, the most expensive unit that has sold in Williamsburg was a $5 million condo by the East River in 2015.
However, according to Eric Benaim, the founder of the Long Island City real estate company Modern Spaces, that price gap is starting to close.
“A lot of people moved to Williamsburg because it was a very hip area, but now with skyrocketing prices and the L train being shut down and the area essentially turning in to SoHo with big brand name stores, people will start shifting and coming here,” Benaim said, causing property prices to increase.
The rental market continues to get bigger as more buildings open.
There were 25,950 rental units at the time of this August 2 report, more than five times the amount of family-owned units.
Most unique about these rental properties, however, is how many low-income units are available.
The report incorporates housing complexes owned by the New York Housing Authority in Ravenswood and Queensbridge. Between these two complexes there are 5,123 subsidized housing units, making up about a fifth of all rental units available in Long Island City.
In addition, there is the affordable housing project at Hunters Point South.
Despite the growing rental market, Benaim anticipates that developers will begin to build more owner-occupied units with the neighborhood being more established.
“Usually when someone gets priced out and tries a new neighborhood they don’t buy right away, so the high percentage of rentals will bring in a lot of new people and faces who will then fall in love with the area and want to buy,” Benaim said.
He added that when the area was being developed in the past decade, many of the builders traditionally managed rentals. This led to a large disparity between rental and owner-occupied properties.
However now that land prices are going up and 421a tax breaks are disappearing, it makes more financial sense for companies to build owner-occupied units, Benaim said.
Though many of Long Island City’s residential units went up in the last decade, there are still some older properties that date back to the mid 19th century. The oldest house in the area is a small redbrick single-family house in the Hunters Point Historic District. It was built in 1861 and given landmark status in 1968.
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22 Comments
At least there is something to do in Williamsburg.
Where do they get off specificallg stating its a neighborhood by the water? It’s a large area. the waterfront is newer development for the most part.
Show me where in Long Island city you can even buy a pair of socks? It’s so boring here. No entertainment and no shopping of any kind.
That’s why everyone leaves for Manhattan or Brooklyn.
I;m glad you think the MRLIC stuff is funny. The Joker who hijacked my MRLIC handle will keep doing it if people think he’s funny. That is his game. He is not funny to me, just STUPID. I will expose every post I find that is not mine.
I’m coming to LIC Post more for the comments section then the news. This MRLIC stuff is too funny. And btw where is that “YES,YES,YES’ guy?
the Real Fake MRLIC is at it again with his hipsters comment. He is the FAKE & with his August 12, 2016, at 12:36am. Why doesn’t he just give up, because I won’t.
For this study, how did they define the boundaries of LIC?
It is FAKE MRLIC writing August 11, 2016 11:10 pm. Stop trying to move in on my handle!!!!!!!!! I AM THE REAL MRLIC. All others are JOKERS and HIPSTERS!
The FAKE MRLIC wrote the August 11, 7:55 PM post not me the ORIGINAL MRLIC. The JOKER is at it AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MRLIC is the fake MRLIC. I am the real MRLIC.
HIPSTERS are ruining the neighborhood and everything was better 10 years ago. Go bowling!!! See?
Dear Mr. Fake LIC, it wasn’t enough that you bullied people in school, you have to carry it into your adulthood? Or are you only 15?
The MRLICmyballs and MonsieurLIC and SenorLIC must all be t the FAKE MRLIC . I rest my case.
SeñorLIC and MonsieurLîC are my brothers from another mother. We were separated at a young age and licpost brought us back together.
Frank and all who read. This Jerk MRLIC keeps posting as me. I only wrote the August 10, 2016 post at 4:06 am. All the other posting about Bowling & Queensbridge are NOT MINE. Why this Stupid handle hijacker insists on being me is a mystery. Try to look for similarities in his posts with all his cynical remarks.
MRLIC here, development and progress are an assault on the 99%, these new condos will just make things worse. I barely have enough singles to make it rain at Scandals anymore!
BTW I’m taking a break from commenting today while I go see my psychiatrist about my split personality disorder and compulsive bowling problems. My foreign cousins SeñorLIC and MonsieurLîC will fill in for me in the meantime.
LIC cannot continue this expansion growth without more plentiful transportation
yes in 20-25 years they might build a new subway tunnel or it just might be in greenpoint and lic 7 riders may have to wait 40 years to ease the over crowding.
that is why i stress YOU are the problem, YOU take jobs in manhattan and love being stuffed like sardines. If you time shifted work or work from home or GASP reverse commute to kew gardens you can avoid a lot of the unpleasantness for years to come
Really Rikki? If everyone could “time shift” at work, or work from home, don’t you think they would be doing it? What color is the sky in your world?
The eff is in kew gardens thats worth commuting to?
The FAKE MRLIC I have to expose again with his August 10, 2016 4:06 am post. He is just a JOKER who doesn’t get it. Those fat cat politicians are making money every time they permit another massive rental to be built. Gone are the days when a person can get quality housing like the Queens Bridge Housing project. Sure you do need a minimum of four locks on your door and it’s best not to admit you have a job and throw off the balance of the sucking sound of welfare dollars paying to keep everyone inside and pacified. The street pharmacist makes a round in the morning and evening and there is never a shortage of people to crash on your couch for a fee. So lace up those $400 Jordans and sit back on the front steps with your 40 and watch those schmucks board that subway to actually work for their money. Life is good when you got no pride.
just ask jimmy van bramer how much money he is pocketing from all of this –
Where are all these people going to fit on the already overcrowded 7 train. The roads can’t fit anymore cars, during the last heat wave Con Ed had to cut the juice on the AC’s in use. Flushing turned down their waterfront development idea for all these same reasons, we haven’t.
Those fat cat politicians are making money every time they permit another massive rental to be built. Gone are the days when a person can get quality housing like the Queens Bridge Housing project. Sure you do need a minimum of four locks on your door and it’s best not to admit you have a job and throw off the balance of the sucking sound of welfare dollars paying to keep everyone inside and pacified. The street pharmacist makes a round in the morning and evening and there is never a shortage of people to crash on your couch for a fee. So lace up those $400 Jordans and sit back on the front steps with your 40 and watch those schmucks board that subway to actually work for their money. Life is good when you got no pride. #WelfareKing
What on Earth do you smoke to think that Queensbridge is quality housing?