Housing prices are going up in Astoria and Long Island City

The NY Daily News reports that rents and residential real estate prices are going up, especially in the luxury home department – this price increase is because there isn’t enough inventory to meet the demand. Our friends at Modern Spaces say that during the last quarter of 2012, the average rent and sale price for a 1 bedroom apartment in Astoria was $1,600 and $387,786, respectively. In LIC, the average average rent and sale price for a 1 bedroom apartment was $2,400 and $501,732, respectively. Compared to 2011, in 2012 in LIC, rents went up about $50/month and price per square foot did too, by an increase of $32 ($700 to $732).

Modern Spaces President and CEO Eric Benaim believes the desire for housing in Long Island City is due to Manhattanites being priced out and moving to homes on the LIC waterfront, even despite the fact that that part of Queens is still in Zone A (though is that as much of a concern if you are 10 stories up?). Dan Miner of the LICPartnership says, “Long Island City was a gritty, industrial neighborhood and many people confused its name with Long Island. [Now] we have vibrant industrial, residential, commercial and cultural communities. The future is pretty promising.”

And because LIC is such a vibrant neighborhood (and continues to grow), many units in LIC have already been snatched up. Folks who can’t find what they are looking for in LIC then turn to Astoria to find a place to live. Astoria has a reputation of being commute friendly, even for those working all the way down in the Financial District or south, as well as having plenty of rental inventory. It’s also very convenient to those working in Midtown. Both LIC and Astoria have much going for it in the restaurant area, too, which holds great appeal for many people.

In the words of Arthur Rosenfield, president of the Long Island City/Astoria Chamber of Commerce, about Astoria and LIC,  “The quality of life is just phenomenal.”

Housing prices rise in Astoria and Long Island City [NYDN]
Looking at the Astoria real estate scene via “Astoria euphoria” from The Real Deal [QNYC]