Sternberg listed a 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom brownstone with a backyard in Prospect Heights last week. About 35 groups showed up at the open house, he says, forming a line that wrapped around the block. Bids for the apartment pushed the original price of $7,250 up by about 20%.
Camila Cabeza, 29, works in finance and just moved to New York from Singapore with her partner. Even though the couple was set up to live in corporate housing for two months, they started apartment hunting immediately. On Feb. 13, they visited a townhouse in Brooklyn. Even though the apartment was listed for $7,200, the couple was willing to bid up to $7,500 because of what it offered.
“It’s big, it has full-size bedrooms where you can fit a king-size bed, which is hard to find,” Cabeza said. “There’s very few apartments that are actually in a convenient location but also have a cool kitchen, a cool living room or bedroom. There’s always something missing.”
On a Friday evening in mid-February, Hayden Tyson, 32, and his wife were on their way to an open house for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, fully renovated apartment with a private backyard the couple had spotted on real estate app StreetEasy. Before any biddings, it was going for $5,300, which the couple considered a steal for an apartment of that size with several amenities in Williamsburg, one of Brooklyn’s trendiest locations. They didn’t even need to make an appointment to show up to the viewing.
As they approached the entrance of the building on Withers Street, they noticed a line of about 20 parties waiting. They waited for a few minutes before changing their mind and walking away.
Mallory Richie was also in line for the same apartment. Simultaneously, she was on the phone with a broker who was explaining that another unit she was interested in had found higher bidders. The 26-year-old freelance video producer has toured seven apartments so far, but nothing has worked out. She’s slowly losing hope.
“The process of finding a place here is like buying a million-dollar house somewhere, which is crazy,” Richie said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.