Jersey City has metro area’s fastest rising rent

Rent in New Jersey community up 49% from last year

(Getty)
(Getty)

Jersey City tenants are feeling more whiplash than any others in the New York metro area, while landlords are reaping the benefits of the surging market.

New Jersey’s second largest city had the area’s fastest growing rents year-over-year through last month, according to a Zumper report of active listings.

In Jersey City, the median rent for a one-bedroom unit surged 48.7 percent year-over-year to $2,900 per month — tied with Hoboken for second behind New York City’s $3,790.

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The rising rents in Jersey City come despite rent control laws, which some landlords are learning about the hard way.

The second-fastest rent growth was in West New York, a town in New Jersey’s Hudson County. Median rent there climbed 40.3 percent year-over-year to $2,230. The bronze went to Bridgeport, which saw a 25 percent increase in the median rent, to $1,550. But Connecticut’s largest city was still the second least expensive market.

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The least expensive median rent last month was in Newark, at $1,400 per month. The third cheapest median rent was in East Orange, at $1,600.

Bridgeport was actually slightly cheaper than Newark for two-bedroom units; Bridgeport’s median in the category was $1,720 versus $1,730 in Newark.

While rent in Long Branch was flat year-over-year, the only city analyzed where rent declined annually was Yonkers, which saw a 6 percent drop to $1,900, ranking in the middle of the cities Zumper analyzed.

The variance in 12-month change reflects differences in the timing of pandemic lows and recoveries.

The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment across the metro area was $2,333.

One outlier was Bayonne, New Jersey. While it ranked as one of the cheapest rental options in the area last month at $1,690, it led the way with a 6.3 percent increase from October.