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Here's Where Millennials Are Moving in With Roommates

By Amy Zimmer | February 17, 2017 8:35am | Updated on February 17, 2017 2:57pm
 Astoria is most popular for millennials, a roommate app found.
Astoria is most popular for millennials, a roommate app found.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

The No. 1 neighborhood for millennial New Yorkers looking to share the burden of rent is Astoria, according to data from roommate app Roomi.

The Western Queens neighborhood tops the list for the generation, ages 20 to 36 years old, when it comes to searches for rooms, with nearly 38 percent of Roomi users looking for housing in the area.

And millennials apparently like what they see: each Astoria listing gets roughly 20 applicants, which is nearly twice as much as any other neighborhood, Roomi found.

Ajay Yadav, Roomi founder and CEO, was surprised that Williamsburg didn’t top the list, given the area’s reputation for being a haven for all things hip and young.

But when it comes to pricing, Astoria is more affordable than Williamsburg.

The average listing posted on Roomi’s platform in the last 90 days was $1,105 a month compared to Williamsburg’s $1,301 a month.

“While some users are moving to their dream neighborhood, the top housemate applications are not being submitted in 2016’s trendy hubs, such as Williamsburg or Bushwick,” he said, “but in Astoria, Clinton Hill, The West Bronx, East Harlem and Lower Manhattan.”

Graphic from Roomi

Prices for the other neighborhoods that were popular in terms of application volume varied.

The average listing in Clinton Hill, for instance, was $1,416 a month, and Lower Manhattan listings averaged $1,603 a month. On the more affordable end of the spectrum, prices in the West Bronx averaged $875 a month and $950 a month in East Harlem.

Other neighborhoods that were sought-after when it came to roommate searches, though not necessarily applications, included the East Village, the Lower East Side, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bay Ridge.

Astoria also has the distinction of being a great hub for daters, according to the relationship app Hinge, which recently partnered with Streeteasy on an analysis of romance and real estate trends

Residents in the neighborhood were among the most sought-after and among the most open to meeting new people, data from Hinge showed.

A lot of real estate experts have their eyes on Astoria this year, as new ferry service is expected to launch in the spring. The city earmarked $30 million to restore Astoria park, the MTA is renovating the area’s subway stations and there’s still talk about building a pricey streetcar project that would terminate in the neighborhood.

Development is hopping along the waterfront as well as along Astoria Boulevard, where a 2010 rezoning allowed for bigger buildings.