Queens held up better than Manhattan and Brooklyn in October. Its median asking price rose 1.4% to $689,000 while theirs fell, and its listings grew the most (+5.4%), even as contracts slipped 8.4%.
The short version
- Rates are the headwind. The 30-year fixed averaged 7.18% in Freddie Mac’s Nov. 5 survey, up from 6.22% a year ago. On Queens’ median asking price, that’s about $351 more a month (20% down).
- Citywide, inventory is the real squeeze. NYC had 17,496 homes for sale, the fewest for an October since 2017. Queens is the exception: more choice than a year ago and about 10 months of supply at October’s contract pace, more than Manhattan or Brooklyn.
- Queens is the best value against rent. Its median asking price equals about 17 years of median rent, versus nearly 23 in Manhattan.
- Our neighborhoods lead the buy-vs-rent math. Rego Park, Kew Gardens Hills and Forest Hills are among five NYC neighborhoods where a buyer can pull ahead of a renter in under five years. Citywide it takes 14.5.
- Rents keep climbing. Queens’ median asking rent rose 4.7% to $3,350, though about 1 in 5 Queens listings still offer at least a month free.
Queens by the numbers
Queens is moving differently from the rest of the city
Citywide, buyers are fighting over a shrinking pool. In Queens, they have a little more room.
Citywide: 1,904 homes went into contract in October, down 7.9% from a year ago. That’s a smaller drop than the 16.8% national decline, and still 15.8% above October 2023, the last time rates sat above 7%. Homes that did sell moved fast: a median 48 days on market, 15 days quicker than last year. And 21.0% sold above asking, up from 18.9%.
Queens: Listings grew to 3,373 (+5.4%) while contracts fell to 337 (−8.4%). Homes took a median 60 days to go into contract, slower than Manhattan or Brooklyn but 9 days faster than a year ago. Asking prices still edged up while Manhattan (−5.2%) and Brooklyn (−9.0%) fell.
Queens has the most homes per buyer and the lowest prices relative to rent
October 2026. Dashed line = NYC overall.
Months of supply at October’s contract pace
NYC 9.2
Years of rent to buy a home (asking)
NYC 20.2
What that tells us: Queens prices are holding because the borough is still affordable relative to rents, not because buyers are rushing. With more listings and a slower pace, buyers here have more negotiating room than in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Sellers who price above the market will feel it first.
Rates: the headwind, and what it costs
Mortgage rates are almost a full point higher than a year ago, and that alone adds hundreds of dollars a month to a typical purchase.
Freddie Mac’s 30-year average was 7.18% as of Nov. 5, the third weekly dip in a row from 7.32% on Oct. 22. The 15-year fixed averaged 6.57%. Don’t expect a quick slide: the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate in September to 3.75%–4.00%, its first hike in three years. It held there on Oct. 28, with two of twelve voters wanting another increase because inflation remains elevated.
A year of higher rates adds $168 to $458 a month
Monthly principal and interest, 30-year fixed, 20% down.
Each quarter-point move on the rate shifts the payment on a Queens median-priced home by roughly $90 a month. That’s why price, closing credits and a building’s monthly charges matter more right now than trying to time rates.
Our neighborhoods: where owning pays off fastest
Four of the five NYC neighborhoods where buying beats renting fastest are in Queens, and three are in our backyard: Rego Park, Kew Gardens Hills and Forest Hills. Oakland Gardens and Riverdale round out StreetEasy’s list. In each, a new owner can come out ahead of a renter in under five years, against 14.5 years citywide (up from 12.4 last year).
Rego Park tops the city at 2.8 years. Its October median sale price was $330,000 against a median asking rent of $2,999, so a home costs about 9 years of rent. Citywide, that ratio is closer to 18.
Where owning beats renting fastest
Years until a buyer pulls ahead of a renter. Six of NYC’s top 10 are in Queens (in color).
NYC overall: 14.5 years (12.4 a year ago)
Velvet’s monthly check. StreetEasy’s breakeven is a long-run measure of when owning’s financial benefits overtake renting’s. The chart below shows what a buyer feels each month: what’s left of the median rent after the mortgage, before maintenance or common charges. Ranked that way, Rego Park still leads, Forest Hills moves up to third, and Kew Gardens Hills slips to sixth because its rents are the lowest on the list. In East Flatbush, the mortgage alone already costs more than renting.
How much rent is left after the mortgage?
Median rent minus the mortgage on the median sale: your room for co-op maintenance or common charges. Queens in color.
Most Rego Park sales are co-ops, where monthly maintenance usually covers the building’s property taxes, heat and upkeep. If a building’s maintenance runs under about $1,200 for the apartment you want, owning can cost less each month than renting a comparable unit, while you build equity. Ask us for the maintenance and financials on any building before you fall in love with a listing.
The down payment is also more reachable here than elsewhere. In StreetEasy’s April analysis, Queens held the six NYC neighborhoods where a median-income household can save a 20% down payment fastest. Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens each needed about $84,000 and roughly 9.3 years of saving.
Houses: the other half of Queens
One- to three-family houses drove Queens in the third quarter. Compass counted 4,446 Queens closings from July through September, up 1.2% from a year earlier, with house closings up 8.7%. Northeast Queens (Bayside, Bay Terrace, Auburndale, Flushing and Glen Oaks) posted the biggest gains.
Closings trail contracts by two to three months, so these reflect deals signed over the summer, before this fall’s jump in rates. Summer demand for houses was solid. Expect the fourth quarter to look more like October’s slower contract pace.
Rentals: tight everywhere, a bit looser in Queens
NYC renters are competing for far fewer apartments: 27,084 were listed in October, down 15.2% from a year ago, and the median asking rent rose 3.8% to $4,100. StreetEasy expects rent growth to speed up this winter as would-be buyers keep renting.
Queens has the most breathing room. Its rental listings fell only 5.7% to 4,398, about a third of the citywide drop. The median asking rent rose 4.7% to $3,350. And 19.7% of Queens listings still offered at least a month free, close to Brooklyn’s 20.2% and well above Manhattan’s 15.3%.
Rents keep rising, but Queens renters have more room
Change in apartments for rent vs. last year
That leverage is shrinking, though. Fewer Queens landlords cut prices or offered free rent than a year ago.
October 2026 by the numbers
Change from October 2025 below each figure. NYC totals include the Bronx and Staten Island, which aren’t broken out. Source: StreetEasy.
| Sales | Queens | NYC | Manhattan | Brooklyn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median asking price | $689,000+1.4% | $995,000−5.2% | $1,375,000−5.2% | $1,000,000−9.0% |
| Homes for sale | 3,373+5.4% | 17,496−3.1% | 8,456−9.1% | 4,539+2.2% |
| Homes entering contract | 337−8.4% | 1,904−7.9% | 936−7.4% | 521−4.6% |
| Median days on market | 60−9 days | 48−15 days | 43−25 days | 48−3 days |
| Rentals | Queens | NYC | Manhattan | Brooklyn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median asking rent | $3,350+4.7% | $4,100+3.8% | $4,995+8.6% | $3,866+3.1% |
| Homes for rent | 4,398−5.7% | 27,084−15.2% | 11,662−17.3% | 9,924−15.9% |
| Listings with a price cut | 14.2%−1.0 pts | 16.5%−2.4 pts | 21.0%−3.4 pts | 13.5%−2.2 pts |
| Listings with a month or more free | 19.7%−1.2 pts | 18.4%−4.1 pts | 15.3%−5.3 pts | 20.2%−3.3 pts |
What to watch in December
- The Fed’s last decision of 2026, Dec. 9. After the October meeting, futures markets priced another hike as likely. A hike would put fresh pressure on mortgage rates; a hold could let the recent dip continue.
- Whether the fall listings sell. September’s 4,952 new listings were the most in four years, and 3,538 more came in October. If buyers absorb them, contracts should firm up. If not, expect more price cuts, starting in Queens, where supply is already highest.
- Winter rents. StreetEasy expects rent growth to speed up as would-be buyers keep renting. Watch whether the share of Queens listings offering free rent keeps shrinking.
What it means for you
Use the extra time.
You have more choice and more time than buyers in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Negotiate on price and closing credits, and compare buildings on monthly maintenance, not just list price. Get your co-op board package ready early so you can move when the right unit appears.
Price it right from day one.
Well-priced homes citywide are drawing over-asking offers, but Queens buyers have 5% more listings to choose from than last year. An overpriced listing will sit, and the fall wave of new listings means more competition.
Run the monthly check.
Rents are still rising. If you’re renewing, a longer lease can lock in today’s rent. If you’re thinking about buying, run the monthly check above on your own building: in Rego Park, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens the math may already favor owning.
Price to the market.
Low vacancy supports rents, but nearly 1 in 5 Queens listings still offer free rent. Price to the market rather than to the headlines; a well-priced unit may not need a concession at all.
Sources and notes
- StreetEasy Market Report, “Inventory – not mortgage rates – weighing on NYC sales” (October 2026 data, published Nov. 12, 2026): borough sales and rental figures, neighborhood breakeven rankings, Rego Park prices and rents, new listings.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: 30-year fixed average, Nov. 5, 2026 and a year earlier.
- Federal Reserve decision, Oct. 28, 2026: AP via WECT and Bloomberg via WealthManagement.com.
- Federal Reserve December 2026 calendar: FOMC meeting Dec. 8–9, decision Dec. 9.
- Compass Queens Q3 2026 sales report, via Brick Underground (Oct. 8, 2026).
- StreetEasy April 2026 down payment analysis, via QNS.
Payment figures are illustrative principal and interest only, on a 30-year fixed loan with 20% down at Freddie Mac’s national weekly average rate. They are not an APR, a rate quote or an offer of credit, and they exclude taxes, insurance, maintenance and common charges. StreetEasy prices and rents are based on its listings. Velvet calculations are marked on each chart.