New October Multi-Family Development Report Shows Uptick in Activity but Year-to-Date Filings Still Far Behind Goals and Historical Averages

Low 2023 filing totals follow trend started in June 2022 after the expiration of the 421a program

NEW YORK, NY– The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) today released its October 2023 Multi-Family Foundation Plan Application Report. This report reviews applications for residential building foundations submitted by developers to the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB), providing a helpful indicator for upcoming housing production.

The report notes that there were 21 filings for project foundations in New York City in October, a slight increase from 19 filings in September. The 21 filings in October represented a total of 1,902 proposed dwelling units. The number of units filed more than triples the total units proposed in September and is the most units filed since November 2022, when there were 5,269 units proposed.

However, as of the end of October, there have been only 242 foundation project filings in New York City in 2023, representing a meager 9,069 proposed dwelling units. With two months remaining in the year, this puts the city on pace for approximately 11,000 proposed dwelling units in 2023, well below the 50,000 unit-per-year goal previously set by Mayor Eric Adams and housing experts as part of efforts to address New York City’s worsening housing supply crisis. The 9,069 proposed units through October 2023 is 78% lower than the 39,824 proposed units seen in the first 10 months of 2022.

There were five filings for a new building with more than 100 residential dwelling units in October. These larger building filings accounted for 1,409 units, nearly three quarters of total new units proposed for the month.This was the first month since November 2022 with at least five large building filings. Four of the five large building filings in October were in Brooklyn, with an additional project in the Bronx. The largest project was 1709 Surf Avenue on Coney Island, which is expected to produce over 400 rental units.

“New York City is positioned to finish 2023 with little progress made towards realizing its long-term housing production goals,” said REBNY Senior Vice President of Policy Zachary Steinberg. “Without support from policymakers for new development incentives we expect such disappointing results to become an annual occurrence.”

The full October 2023 Multi-family Foundation Plan Application Report, including additional analysis on foundation applications broken out by building size and geography, can be downloaded here.

Tracking foundation projects supplements REBNY’s quarterly Construction Pipeline Report, which examines new building job application filings submitted to DOB. Since this report tracks multi-family foundation filings rather than new building filings, it provides an additional perspective on the overall state of housing development activity. New building filings generally precede foundation filings by a period of at least several months, or possibly longer if the project is not able to proceed to the construction phase.

For more information about REBNY research reports, visit //go.rebny.com/Reports.

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The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is the City’s leading real estate trade association. Founded in 1896, REBNY represents commercial, residential, and institutional property owners, builders, managers, investors, brokers, and salespeople; banks, financial service companies, utilities, attorneys, architects, and contractors; corporations, co-partnerships, and individuals professionally interested in New York City real estate. REBNY conducts research on various civic matters including tax policy, city planning and zoning, rental conditions, land use policy, building codes, and other city, state, and federal legislation. REBNY regularly publishes market data, policy reports, and broker surveys. In addition, REBNY provides for its members: informational, technical, and technological resources; networking and charitable service opportunities; qualifying and continuing education courses; professional education programs, seminars, and designations; career-changing awards; legal advice; and a wide range of additional member benefits. For more information, please visitwww.rebny.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Chris Santarelli

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