New housing supply stays low in New York City

It is hardly news that New York City is facing a housing shortage. The city’s housing production has long been lagging behind its population and job growth. Between 2010 and 2020, New York City added 629,057 new residents, reaching an all-time high of 8.8 million people.

Although New York attracts thousands of new residents, the city’s housing supply continues to decline, according to the monthly report from the Real Estate Board of New York. The leading real estate trade association looked at applications for residential building foundations submitted by developers to the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB).

There were 22 new multi-family foundation fillings in February 2023, with a total of 432 proposed dwelling units. This was the third month in a row when NYC developers submitted fewer than 30 filings citywide. By contrast, in the first half of 2022, there were 73 new multi-family foundation filings per month. 

“This data shows just how much worse the City’s housing crisis will become if we continue on the path laid out by the State Legislature’s one-house budget bills,” said REBNY Senior Vice President of Policy Zachary Steinberg. “If the State budget fails to include sensible housing policies, New Yorkers should not expect these dire housing production numbers to improve.”

At the beginning of 2022, REBNY urged legislators that New York City needs to create 560,000 new housing units by 2030, as its population is expected to reach 9 million. A year later, the city still struggles to build more new homes. In February, it saw just one new filing for a building with more than 100 residential units.

Recently, Governor Kathy Hochul released “The New York Housing Compact” plan as a part of the FY 2024 Executive Budget. This plan would set housing production targets that would help add 800,000 new homes over the next decade. However, the Senate and Assembly rejected Hochul's plan and instead proposed $500 million in incentives to encourage housing production. 

Resources:

“Report: NYC Housing Pipeline Goes from Bad to Worse,” by REBNY Staff (REBNY, 2023)

“Report finds housing supply continues to lag in New York City,” by Nick Reisman (Spectrum News 1, 2023)

“New York lawmakers clash with Hochul’s housing plan in budgets,” by Aaron Ginsburg (6sqft, 2023)

“Highlights from the one-house budgets,” by Anna Gronewold and Joseph Spector (Politico, 2023)