How Long Does It Take to Save for a Down Payment in NYC?

Photo: Plexi Images/GHI/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Finally, some good news in the New York City housing market: It will take a person making the median household income only 20 years to save up for a down payment. (The current median is $105,481, and the math here assumes 10 percent put aside in annual savings.) Oh, that sounds like bad news to you? Consider the fact that this is actually a better projection than what we’ve seen in recent years: “While two decades is a long time, this is an improvement from nearly 24 years to save for a 20 percent down payment on the median-priced home in April 2019 prior to the pandemic,” per the report from StreetEasy.

So most of us should get comfortable renting for the time being. What’s going on in the rental market? Oh, well, according to the same report, the median rent in April set a new record, rising 7 percent year over year to $4,120 — “the highest StreetEasy has recorded since it began tracking rental data in 2010.” Meanwhile, inventory has only gotten tighter and tighter.

Happy hunting, apartment seekers.

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