RentCafe report: Long Island renters sign longest leases in U.S.
For Rent Real Estate Sign In Front of a Row of Apartment Condominiums Balconies and Garage Doors. Credit: Getty Images/Feverpitched
The demand for rental properties on Long Island is high, and factors like low inventory from tenants staying put and lack of new constructions has caused competition in the market, experts say.
A new report from RentCafe shows that renters across the country faced a "challenging summer" during the peak moving season. On a local level, the report found that Long Islanders are tied with northern New Jersey renters in signing the longest leases in the country, at 14 months. The Northeast average is 13 months, according to the report.
The rental website also found that Long Islanders stay in their rentals for 40 months on average, which exceeds the overall Northeast average of 36 months.
In private rentals especially, such as single-family homes, "a lot of renters are staying put because of the economic uncertainty out there," said Jeff Stineback, a real estate agent at Compass, based in Huntington.
"So that means there aren't that many rentals turning over, so those people that are in the market are not finding much inventory," he continued. "And if it's a good property — well taken care of, well presented — it's going to go quickly. That's always going to be the case."
But amid that competition, if an apartment needs a little work, Stineback has found some renters might try to push back on prices.
"It's a very rare, new thing in the marketplace, where you see renters trying to negotiate," he said. "Even in a tight inventory market, if it's not the ideal apartment, you might see some negotiation trying to happen."
Those high prices that started around the pandemic are still hurting renters — particularly young people, said Eileen Heimer, a real estate agent with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty, based in Sea Cliff.
"I think especially for younger people, the prices have gotten so high, it's hard for them to save, to be able to buy something down the road," she said. "I think that's the biggest challenge: People are kind of staying put, but the prices, too, keep going up."
RentCafe found that apartment occupancy on Long Island increased to 93.1% this peak season, compared to 92% last year. But the rental market here only saw a 0.42% increase in new apartments, per their findings.
The rental market in Long Beach operates a bit differently, said Kelly Forman, a real estate agent with Compass who is based in that city.
"I do think the demand on renting is high on Long Island, but I do feel in this particular submarket, there are a fair amount of rentals out there," Forman said.
That's due to the range of housing in Long Beach: Single or multiple family houses, apartment buildings, condos, town houses and bungalows, along with seasonal opportunities, she said.
"In a way, renters do have some options," Forman said. "The challenge is that they are expensive because of the submarket that we're in, and they're expensive because owners know what they have, and are not really willing to take haircuts on that price."
As a renter, making yourself stand out from the competition is key, Stineback said.
"My best suggestion is to be prepared," he said. "Have all your documentation and all your qualifications ready to go, so you can make a great first impression."
Forman advises renters to "think of your application as a resume, like applying to a job or a school." Narrowing down "must-haves" and "nice-to-haves" in a rental property is another consideration while hunting in this market, she added.
"Get educated on how far your money will go in each market you might be considering," Forman said.
Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.
