The smallest borough in New York City kicked off 2025 with a flurry of home sales, further evidence that housing demand in the Big Apple is smoldering hot.
Homebuyers purchased 300 homes on Staten Island in January, up from 270 a year prior, according to the Staten Island Board of Realtors. The rise in homebuying is noteworthy considering how Staten Island is seeing a shrinking number of homes available for sale and those still on the market are becoming more expensive.
Housing inventory fell from 1,221 units in January 2024 to 857 last month, the board said. The decrease has hiked median home prices by 4.8% — from $687,000 in January 2024 to $720,000 last month. Even though prices have soared, there's a "continued strength of the Staten Island real estate market," Sandy Krueger, the board's CEO, said in a statement.
"Despite inventory challenges, buyer activity remains high,” she said in the statement.
The report bodes well for Staten Island, the place where New York City's housing crunch is most pronounced. The city is in the midst of a housing shortage, brought on mostly by its rising population and a lack of new home construction in recent years.
Builders filed 4,309 permits for residential construction during the fourth quarter, marking a 17% increase from the previous quarter, according to a recent analysis from the Real Estate Board of New York. But that figure still "shows that the city is trailing production goals and historical development trends, which should be a concern for those focused on solving our housing supply crisis," Zachary Steinberg, REBNY's senior vice president of policy, said in a statement.
In Staten Island's case, the borough saw its population jump 6.4 percent from 463,450 in 2010 to 492,925 in 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. However, New York has only added 800 new homes to Staten Island between 2021 and 2023, according to the latest housing survey.
To help fix the housing issue, Mayor Eric Adams has ordered city officials to look for potential land for new housing developments — particularly on land the city already owns. The city also approved a series of zoning law changes under its City of Yes plan that is slated to add 80,000 more housing units over the next 15 years.
New York officials also hope to alleviate some of Staten Island's housing woes with a new development slated for the North Shore area. Hillside Grove will be designed as three, four- and five-story buildings: one with 90 homes for senior citizens, a second structure of 105 homes for multifamily living and a co-op building of 37 units available for purchase.