{"id":814411,"date":"2026-05-22T10:51:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/814411\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:51:22","slug":"our-forgotten-borough-why-the-bronx-is-the-last-affordable-place-to-buy-a-home-in-new-york-city-bronx-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/814411\/","title":{"rendered":"OUR FORGOTTEN BOROUGH | Why the Bronx is the last affordable place to buy a home in New York City \u2013 Bronx Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bronx might be the last place that the average New Yorker can afford to buy a home \u2014 yet, it has the lowest rates<\/a> of homeownership in all of New York City.<\/p>\n

In a city filled with renters, only 20% of Bronx residents own their homes. Roughly 108,800 units are owned, making nearly 80% of Bronx residents owners, according to a study by the New York State of Health<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The thought of going from a renter to an owner can seem daunting. Most people live lease-to-lease, unsure of how to afford a home or even how to start the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s incredibly difficult for the average New Yorker to start the homebuying process. Figuring out interest rates, a down payment and outbidding other interested parties, seems like a hurdle first-time home buyers can\u2019t get over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City officials and housing experts are trying to change that.\u00a0
\n\"\"In a city filled with renters, only 20% of Bronx residents own their homes. Roughly 108,800 units are owned, making nearly 80% of Bronx residents owners. Photo by Jonathan Portee\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bronx is the last borough standing,\u201d said Crystal Hawkins-Syska, a real estate agent who sells homes<\/a> in Westchester County and the Bronx. \u201cIt is the last borough in New York City that\u2019s still affordable\u2026 It\u2019s an untapped place for likeminds to join together to figure out what\u2019s possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Home prices across the Bronx can vary depending on the neighborhood. An average home in the Bronx, for example, typically sells at $490,942 \u2013 according to data from Zillow<\/a>. Yet, certain neighborhoods, for example, Throggs Neck and Pelham Bay, have homes on the market for prices ranging between $600,000 and $800,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But can many Bronx residents afford to buy the more affordable homes? The rent for many in the borough already eats away at their finances.\n<\/p>\n

The average yearly income of a Bronx resident is $48,676, according to the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>, while the average monthly rent is $1,458. More often than not, however, that number creeps into the $2,000 a month category. That means nearly half of a person\u2019s wages go to rent with no return or investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That means many residents don\u2019t have the ability to squirrel away money to buy a home, Hawkins-Syska said. She tries to talk to clients about thinking of the future outside of a one or two-year lease agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Difficult as home-buying is, it is not impossible under the right circumstances.\n<\/p>\n

Making a home in Kingsbridge<\/b>
\n\"\"Carri\u00f3n and Lerner put all the money they had into getting the perfect home for their family to settle down in the Bronx. Photo by Jonathan Portee<\/p>\n

Lindsey Lerner, a documentary photographer from Rhode Island and Selena Carri\u00f3n, a NYC education administrator from Soundview, purchased their first Bronx home together about six months ago in Kingsbridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The married couple wanted to build a future for their family \u2013a 10-year-old daughter and 5-month-old daughter\u2013 that included settling down in the borough Carri\u00f3n grew up in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No one in Carri\u00f3n\u2019s family has owned a home before \u2013her mother struggled with housing insecurity and homelessness before living in NYCHA housing and then finding a rent-controlled building in the Bronx\u2013 stable housing is something extremely important to her in why she wanted to buy a home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to see as a kid just like gentrification creeping into New York City as a whole, and felt strongly that it would come for the Bronx,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said. \u201cIt felt important to me to own, to preserve a stake as a native New Yorker, be a part of the community and really secure a place for myself and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carri\u00f3n viewed owning a home as more cost-effective than renting, and better for her family\u2019s long-term goals of settling down.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just became too expensive. We had to basically say, \u2018We\u2019re gonna have to leave New York in order to save up to then come back,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cBecause we couldn\u2019t even afford rent anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet, the challenge of finding their perfect home felt like a full-time job outside of already both having full-time jobs, Lerner said. It felt like every weekend was spent going to open houses or viewing homes that didn\u2019t quite match their online photos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The couple ended up putting down several offers, which were either outbid or lost out to an all-cash buyer.\n<\/p>\n

The home they ended up buying \u2013 a two-floor standalone home in Kingsbridge with three bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, with a basement, attic, backyard and driveway \u2013 cost a bit over its $850,000 asking price.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s without renovations, which Carri\u00f3n and Lerner did on their own.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have any extra money for anything,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Carri\u00f3n and Lerner said their monthly mortgage is about $5,000, which they admit, is pricey. Nevertheless, it is still less than some of their friends who rent in Manhattan, plus there\u2019s the added sense of security that they don\u2019t have a landlord who can decide to not continue renting to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The married couple wanted to build a future for their family, that included settling down in the borough Carri\u00f3n grew up in. Photo by Jonathan Portee<\/p>\n

The Bronx needs more homeowners like Carrion and Lerner and the city needs to do more to make that happen, according to Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to look at incentives that drive more affordable home ownership pathways,\u201dGibson told the Bronx Times, adding that she\u2019s working with Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) on creating more affordable options.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how you build generational wealth and that\u2019s how you address the wage gap so that Black and Brown home owners increase and have more diverse areas to choose from,\u201d Gibson added.<\/p>\n

Fighting discrimination and redlining<\/b><\/p>\n

Gibson noted that there are many areas in the Bronx that Black and Brown residents can\u2019t afford and have historically never lived. \u201cIt\u2019s a disparity, and it\u2019s happening for a reason,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Persistent racial discrimination and redlining are what\u2019s continuing to prevent Black and Brown Bronx residents from accessing financing for their future home \u2013 residents who would otherwise qualify, according to Kevin Wolfe, Deputy Director of Advocacy and Public Affairs at the Center for NYC Neighborhoods<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at the homeownership rates, there\u2019s a gap between Black households, Latino households and white households,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about a borough that\u2019s majority Black and Hispanic, then we\u2019re seeing [racial discrimination] is a driving force in who has access to purchase a home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redlining in the Bronx began in the 1930s, when the federal Home Owners\u2019 Loan Corporation<\/a> created maps to rate neighborhoods for mortgage lending risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Large sections of the Bronx with Black, Latino and working-class residents were classified as either \u201cdeclining\u201d or \u201chazardous,\u201d which discouraged investment and contributed to decades of economic hardship and segregation, according to the NYC Environment and Health<\/a> data portal.<\/p>\n

Because the Bronx is such a rental forward borough, Lerner and Carri\u00f3n said they were limited in locations where they were interested in buying. The South Bronx, for example, they loved, but nearly all the apartments and new buildings are rentals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of that is to keep people perpetually in this state of instability and renting versus owning, and I do feel like developers don\u2019t want people to have ownership in the Bronx,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s due to the economic history that we\u2019ve had over the decades, especially since the 70s, so that\u2019s more the reason to try to buy in the Bronx if you can, or at least start the process and see if it\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to these historic challenges, Black and Brown renters have not considered themselves homeowners or looked into what it takes to save for a down payment. Even with bad credit, experts say that there are assistance programs that help first-time home buyers, even those who have little saved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts point towards city-run programs that can help first time New York City home buyers like the HomeFirst Down Payment Assistance Program<\/a>, which provides qualified homebuyers with up to $100,000 towards a down payment or closing costs on a family home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bronx homeowners with low-to-moderate income limits can also apply for repair grants to their family homes through Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City<\/a> and Rebuilding New York City\u2019s Housing Preservation Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do want to have more opportunities to convert those to home ownership through a thoughtful process,\u201d Dina Levy, HPD commissioner, told the Bronx Times. \u201cIf the housing is already built, in theory, it is much less expensive than building new, and if there\u2019s an opportunity to convert housing like that into collective home ownership, I think it\u2019s an opportunity that the agency should be supporting more directly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

City leadership is prioritizing building more new housing in the Bronx, and serving all family and household sizes, Levy said.
\n\"\"\u201cIt felt important to me to own, to preserve a stake as a native New Yorker, be a part of the community and really secure a place for myself and my family,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said. Photo by Jonathan Portee\n<\/p>\n

Carri\u00f3n and Lerner are now settling into their neighborhood \u2013 excited that they finally have a place where they can put down roots and spend their lives enjoying. Their neighbors are open-minded and progressive and they see the same characters (and their dogs) on their daily walks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really close-knit community, which is what I wanted,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I really loved about growing up in the Bronx. I definitely wanted to find something that felt similar in terms of knowing your neighbors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the small things which make a community, home.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people look down on the Bronx and have for a very long time, and that feels really unfortunate, or there\u2019s like one or two neighborhoods that people would deem worth living, that also feels hurtful,\u201d Carri\u00f3n said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think every neighborhood has something to offer, and there\u2019s something for everybody throughout the borough. I would love for people to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bronx might be the last place that the average New Yorker can afford to buy a home…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":814412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,264392,8471,330720,10458,330721,330722,318553,42047,118314,330723,14259,330724,40137,330725,221265,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,36798,247811,330726,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-814411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-borough-president-vanessa-gibson","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-housing","tag-bronx-housing-crisis","tag-buying-a-home-in-the-bronx","tag-crystal-hawkins-syska","tag-dina-levy","tag-first-time-home-buyers","tag-home-buying","tag-homefirst","tag-hpd","tag-kevin-wolfe","tag-kingsbridge","tag-lindsey-lerner","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nycha","tag-our-forgotten-borough","tag-selena-carriu00f3n","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}