Housing

Millennials now make up the largest group of homebuyers in the United States. Amy Plitt is the editor of Curbed New York. She discusses trends that buyers and sellers need to know about.

More than 500 vacant properties, so-called zombie homes, can be found in neighborhoods across the Town of Hempstead. As that crisis continues to escalate, state and local officials have secured a $215,000 grant designed to take a closer look at the community's housing needs.

Council Member Ritchie Torres weighs in on the new deal between NYCHA and the federal government to fix the failing housing system.

The federal government will take greater control of the New York City Housing Authority in a deal struck by local officials and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced.

To rent or to buy? To sell or to hold? Where will you find the best real estate deals in New York this year? StreetEasy senior economist Grant Long says prices are continuing to fall in a lot of places in the city and buyers continue to have the upper hand in negotiations.

A day after Gov. Cuomo announced that he intended to avert a full shut down of the L-train and instead have repairs done during nights and weekends, calls started coming into Can Nomer, the director of leasing at Level, a 554-unit high-rise on the waterfront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

A new report by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer's office says the number of affordable apartments in New York City has dwindled over time, leaving working-class residents with fewer options in a city with ballooning rents.

How do NYCHA tenants feel about a federal monitor stepping in to oversee management?

Residents of Syosset, Long Island, packed a public hearing on Tuesday. Most of them oppose a proposed mega-development called Syosset Park. The development would encompass about 93 acres, some of which are a former Superfund site and also a landfill. The development would include condos, townhouses, retail, entertainment, restaurants, office space, two hotels, and a 30-acre park. The park would be over the former landfill.

The more than 400,000 New York City residents who live in public housing could soon see a federally mandated rent increase that many say they can't afford. Under a proposal by the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, public housing residents would be required to pay 35 percent of their gross income in rent, up from the current requirement of 30 percent of adjusted income.

If you rent a home in New York City, you already know we have some of the highest rents in the country. Now, finally, some promising news: rents are starting to come down a little, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage firm Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a state of emergency to end the bureaucratic gridlock that has stalled urgent health and safety repairs in public housing managed by the New York City Housing Authority. He pledged more than half a billion dollars set firm deadlines for results.

Ask New Yorkers and they'll tell you that our city is expensive. Housing costs are high. And sometimes it feels like everything is going up but your paycheck. With that in mind, StreetEasy.com surveyed 1,000 New Yorkers across all five boroughs to get an idea of what people were thinking in terms of their real estate priorities, plans, and preferences.

The nonprofit group Housing Rights Initiative and City Council Member Ritchie Torres are accusing Jared Kushner's real estate company of using a scheme to drive tenants out of their rent-stabilized apartments so they could make more money on the buildings. They allege that over a four-year period Kushner Companies lied to the city Buildings Department about the number of rent-stabilized apartments in 34 of its buildings. Kushner Companies reportedly filed more than 80 false work permit applications with the city, which is against the law, with the goal of driving out tenants with nonstop construction.

You could call 2018 the Year of the Renter in New York City. StreetEasy senior economist Grant Long says rents have been skyrocketing since the end of the financial crisis and finally cooled off last year, putting renters in the driver's seat in 2018. He advises anyone signing a lease this year to ask for a month or two off the front-end.

Life got better Tuesday for the residents of the Farragut Houses in Brooklyn. They have been without heat since last week's snowstorm. The New York City Housing Authority said that heat has been restored. But the Brooklyn borough president said NYCHA needs to update its methods.

Five formerly homeless veterans now have a place they can call home in Brooklyn. They moved into a Stanley Commons, a six-building complex in East New York, thanks to a program from the city's Department of Veterans' Services in collaboration with other city agencies, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the complex itself.

The White Plains Mall was built in the early 1970s in downtown White Plains, New York. As the area transforms, time is ticking for the almost vacant mall. That is why the owner of the property, WP Mall Realty, has proposed tearing down the mall and building a mixed-use development.

Whichever way you turn in Long Island City, avoiding the sight of construction is nearly impossible. Rockrose Development is building a 2,500-unit residential development but is also making sure to bring lots of retail to the neighborhood, too. Another huge project is coming to 44th Drive near the East River. The city's Economic Development Corporation is building more than 1,000 apartments, a new school, offices, and a manufacturing space.

Some tenants in Brooklyn are suing a business once run by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in law and close adviser. The lawsuit claims that Kushner Companies failed to provide rent-stabilized leases to tenants as required at a beautiful building in Brooklyn Heights.