New York City Apartments Are Getting Larger

For over a decade, Castellan Real Estate Partners has engaged in real estate investment, development, financing, and management. Led by its co-founders Paul and John Salib, Castellan Real Estate Partners keeps abreast with New York City’s real estate market developments.

New York City apartments are getting larger. Research firm Urban Digs compiled data on 765 residential properties from 2016 to 2021 and found that average apartment sizes grew by 25 square feet to reach 975 square feet (sq. ft). The findings from this research are similar to those of another study by Axiometrics, which showed that apartments in the city have expanded since 2000 from an average size of 756 sq. ft to over 820 sq. ft.

New York City generally has no minimum requirements for apartment sizes, but some zoning districts do. Minimum apartment size laws also exist for affordable housing, including for seniors. Despite the few limitations on minimum apartment sizes, the above data shows New York apartments are getting larger, even bucking the national trend. Statista has found that single-family homes in the United States have gradually decreased from 2,467 sq. ft to 2,261 sq. ft between 2015 and 2020.

A big reason for this growth in apartment sizes in New York City is a sharper focus by developers on luxury properties that tend to be larger and have more amenities. Some developers, for example, are even converting rental apartments into condominiums with fewer units and much larger floor sizes.