New York City still has the priciest rents, but Jersey City is closing in

JERSEY City, New Jersey, leads the US in apartment-rent growth, and costs are surpassed only by its neighbour across the Hudson River, New York City.

April’s median monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit in Jersey City was US$3,000. While that’s tied with San Francisco, it’s a relative bargain compared with New York’s US$3,570, according to a report by Zumper.

Jersey City rents jumped almost 28 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase among 100 US cities measured by the apartment listings website. The community is attractive because of its relative affordability and convenience, just a short subway or ferry ride from Manhattan.

Renters in search of value have pushed into New York’s outer boroughs and urban enclaves across the Hudson such as Hoboken and Jersey City, often nicknamed “Wall Street West” because of all of the finance jobs that have shifted there.

“We’re seeing record numbers of applications for apartments there,” Zumper chief executive officer Anthemos Georgiades said. “As more people are priced out of the five boroughs, they’re turning to spillover cities, and Jersey City is especially attractive thanks to its ample public transportation and waterfront area.”

It’s the first time Jersey City has landed this high in Zumper’s ranking of one-bedroom rents. It hadn’t yet been added to the analysis a year ago. If it had been on the list, it would have ranked seventh, according to the company.

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In contrast to Jersey City, rent growth has been slowing nationally. The US median for a one-bedroom was US$1,495 this month, up 6 per cent from last April. Rents had been climbing by double digits throughout much of 2021 and 2022, Zumper said.

New York City rents in April were up 4.4 per cent from a year earlier. BLOOMBERG