Apartment List, a rental pairing website, recently released its September Rent Report. Unsurprisingly, the report confirms what we already knew, rent prices are rising and not just locally, the trend is consistent across the country. Nationwide, rents are up 2.3% year over year.
Even more interesting is the fact that the report places Jersey City in the number 3 spot for highest rent prices nationally, behind the obvious leaders, NYC and San Francisco. The report states median rent in Jersey City for a 2-bedroom apartment runs $3,280, with a 1-bedroom coming in at $2,590.
A delve into their methodology shows they base the report on listing data from their site. This likely skews the median upwards as Apartment List tends to lean heavily towards the Downtown luxury market in Jersey City. Many apartments can be found for quite a bit less than these averages once you move away from Downtown.
Regardless of the methodology, the fact that Jersey City is ranked third is significant. Traditionally, Jersey City was seen as a lower cost alternative to Manhattan, Brooklyn and even Hoboken. As prices continue upwards, does Jersey City run the risk of losing its competitive advantage? Sure it will always be a bargain compared to Manhattan, but once prices start to align with Brooklyn, will the inflow of new residents wane?
Only time will tell. As things are going, we’ll likely find out sooner than later.
