The Average Rent for a Bushwick 1-Bedroom Is Higher Than In Boerum Hill
Yeah, we know, we know. One of the most dependable and discouraging news items to be reported on in Brooklyn is the ongoing, seemingly limitless rise in rents (the most dependable and discouraging news item to be reported on in Brooklyn lately has to do with videos of police brutality, so). But even though the onslaught of news of higher rents is certainly relentless, it rarely feels tedious because there’s always some new, enlightening bit of information contained within the general flood of numbers. Case in point: as of September 2014, the average rent for a one-bedroom is higher in Bushwick than it is in Boerum Hill.
According to a report released by MNS Real Estate, the average rental price for a one-bedroom in Bushwick is $2,647/month, while the average in Boerum Hill is $2,625/month. This came as something of a shock to us, even though we spend a considerable amount of time lamenting the high rent in formerly affordable neighborhoods like Bushwick. How could Boerum Hill—bordered by many of the most expensive neighborhoods in Brooklyn, including Cobble Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Heights, and with access to a plethora of amenities—be less expensive than Bushwick? The answer, of course, is more complicated than the simple fact that Bushwick is now home to an abundance of high-rent new developments, and also has to do with a relative lack in inventory in Boerum Hill, making the average rent cost much more susceptible to being dragged down by a cheap(ish) outlier apartment. Even so, it’s startling to see how quickly neighborhoods like Bushwick and Crown Heights (average one-bedroom rental? $2,295/month) have joined the rental bracket of neighborhoods like Boerum Hill and Fort Greene ($2,694/month).
The three least expensive rental markets included in this report (which, admittedly, only tracks the prices in about half of Brooklyn, and nowhere south of Prospect Park, save Bay Ridge) are Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Bed-Stuy, and Bay Ridge, while the most expensive are Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn, and—coming in a strong number one—DUMBO, where one-bedrooms are going for—on average—$3,900/month. And, lest you think that DUMBO number is wildly inflated by luxurious apartments renting for $20,000/month, this report ignores all rentals exceeding $10,000/month.
What does all this mean other than that we can never, ever, ever afford to move again? We don’t really know. We can’t think about that right now. We’re too focused on the fact that we can never, ever, ever afford to move again. Ever.
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