How did Covid-19 Affect the Real Estate Market in NYC? Is Now the Time to Rent?

This is a time unlike any other in our history. The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected everyone globally and there will be a new normal in how we proceed post-Pandemic. The hospitality industry as well as the real estate market have been hit hard. Fear, isolation, loss of jobs, rising rents, lower inventory, workers moving home to work, renters, and homeowners unable to afford their current situation are displaced and looking for their next move.

Street Easy reports that “52 percent fewer rentals were up for grabs in the second half of March compared with the first, and a 73 percent decrease in sales inventory at that same time.” When the “stay at home order” was put in place, showings dropped off and many landlords opted to take their rentals off the market waiting for better times. Demand for rentals, surprisingly, rose with more would-be buyers waiting for the economy to settle. Surprisingly, according to StreetEasy, “despite the economic uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, the median rent in Manhattan reached a record high in StreetEasy’s Price Index in Q1 of $3,324, a 3.4 percent annual increase.” So rising rents, less inventory, and the looming fear of the impact of unemployment where many people fear that what’s coming is the inability to pay rent and subsequent eviction are causing a huge shift in the real estate market and the need for a solution is imminent.

Coliving is the answer to this time of uncertainty and to the increased rents, lack of inventory as well as the fear of displacement. New York has always been and will probably always be one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States. Now, in a post-pandemic world with rental costs still high, inaccessibility to services, and the mental strain caused by isolation, coliving is the solution that the market will begin to lean toward. We believe it will revolutionize the way we live and work in the big city and it is the wave of the future for renting in New York. One thing we have learned is that Coronavirus doesn’t pick and choose. It’s us vs.it. We’re in this together, and together we can always find the right solution for our problems, especially when it comes to having a roof over our head. With solutions to the isolation, to the uncertainty of rents and tacked on fees, to the fear of what to do next and where to live, to the new wave of remote workers who need to move in immediately, to the traveler and professionals looking for flexibility and a safe place to land, policing, and SharedEasy, in particular, is the solution. We are revolutionising the definition of home in the post-pandemic world. To our members, the feeling is not “Stuck at home” it’s “Safe at Home.”