LONG ISLAND CITY — Rents in the neighborhood dipped slightly this summer, a new report says — likely driven by a surge in new apartments hitting the market, including the opening of the affordable complex at Hunters Point South.
Rent prices in Long Island City during the third quarter of the year averaged $3,123, down nearly 3 percent from $3,207 the previous quarter, according to a market report released by realty firm Modern Spaces.
The drop was even more marked when looking specifically at luxury apartments in Long Island City: according to the report, the average rent for luxury units was $3,979 this quarter, compared to $4,290 this spring and $4,029 during the first three months of the year.
The decrease comes after rent prices in the neighborhood had been steadily climbing since the start of the year, and was likely caused by a jump in new developments that flooded the market this summer, according to Modern Spaces' CEO Eric Benaim.
"There's a lot of inventory coming in the market," he said.
Recently opened projects include the 421-unit QLIC in Queens Plaza, as well as the first two towers of the city's affordable housing development at Hunters Point South, which tenants began moving into this spring and summer.
Benaim said that local residents — who had priority in the city's housing lottery for half of the 925-units in the building — vacated their old apartments in the neighborhood to move into Hunters Point South, creating more available units and driving rents down.
"It was shifting people around," he said. "It freed up a lot more inventory."
The report predicts that the rental market will continue to slow into the winter, as Benaim says additional new developments with about 700 units between them are expected to open in the area.
"As there's more and more inventory coming online, I think the prices are going to start getting adjusted and level out, because it was continuously going up every quarter," he said.
