At $2,940 per month, the current 10032 asking-rent reading creates a sharp affordability tension against the matched area’s $56,829 median household income. Annualizing that index produces an asking-rent-to-income screen of 62.1%, while a 30% screen requires $117,600 of annual income. That calculation is arithmetic only: it is not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. The current asking-rent index also stands 83.4% above the $1,603 ACS median gross rent, underscoring that the two measures describe different renter populations, periods, and rent concepts rather than interchangeable prices.
Rent history points to continued growth, though the recent pace does not fully match the longer expansion. The one-year exact same-month annualized change was 4.5%, the three-year change was 4.3%, and the five-year change was 6.2%. Thus, the latest direction confirms a positive longer-run path but sits below the five-year rate. Annualized monthly-return variability was 2.7%, which supports moderate confidence in the current index as a market snapshot rather than a precise unit quote. Separately, the maximum drawdown reached 9.8%, showing that this stable-growth history still experienced a meaningful retrenchment. Coverage is 100% across 138 observations and 137 consecutive monthly returns. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 499 for momentum, 983 for stability, and 305 for the balanced measure; these are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The bedroom ladder translates the ZIP asking-rent index into modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents. Scaling ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder yields $2,133 for a studio, $2,474 for one bedroom, $2,940 for two bedrooms, $3,601 for three bedrooms, and $4,150 for four bedrooms. The $2,616 local HUD two-bedroom standard is 12.4% below the modelled two-bedroom estimate. This spread is useful for comparing the shape of local bedroom standards with the ZIP-level index, but it does not establish that an available two-bedroom is offered at either figure.
Rental occupancy and multifamily stock make the aggregate renter evidence especially relevant, while still leaving building-level conditions unresolved. Of 23,292 housing units in the matched area, 18,652 were in large multifamily structures and 19,748 were renter occupied, a 91.5% renter share. Overall vacancy was 7.3%, including 585 units classified as vacant and for rent. ACS also estimated that 11,100 renter households, or 56.2% of renter households with burden data, paid at least 30% of income toward gross rent. Neither the vacancy count nor the burden share proves availability, rent level, household finances, or conditions at any particular unit.
Wider benchmarks position the ZIP below surrounding asking-rent contexts, but those figures should remain geographic context rather than substitutes for ZIP evidence: New York city context rent was $4,133, New York County context rent was $4,833, and the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro context rent was $3,573. Each exceeds the ZIP’s current index. That geographic gap does not erase the local income screen or renter burden evidence; instead, it shows that a lower asking-rent index than the city, county, and metro contexts can coexist with substantial pressure when assessed against the matched area’s reported income and gross-rent measures.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month 10032 resale observation presents a different tension from the rent series. The median sold price was $509,885, down 22.2% year over year, with 13 homes sold and a median 73 days on market. Redfin recorded 74 active listings, 56 homes of inventory, and 12.7 months of supply. The average sale-to-list ratio was 99.55%, while 0% of sales closed above list and 0% went off market within two weeks. These are for-sale market signals, not rental transactions or rental comparables. They challenge the rent-history picture: asking rents were still rising, yet ZIP resale evidence showed lower sold prices, lengthy marketing, and substantial supply. The 6.9% annualized ZIP-ZORI-to-median-sold-price screening ratio is only a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield.
Source scope explains why the rent, household, HUD, and resale figures should not be blended into one claimed market price. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. The ACS 2024 five-year estimate is a survey of occupied renter homes; its median gross rent includes selected utilities. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. The five-digit label 10032 is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match, but a ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Redfin remains a direct ZIP resale source, while the city, county, and metro figures are wider-area context only.
The evidence supports comparison and screening, not a conclusion about a particular building or lease. Useful property-level checks include the actual bedroom count and layout, advertised rent and lease term, which utilities are included, whether the asking unit is currently available, and whether quoted rents are comparable to the index’s blended rental mix. For a resale comparison, the specific sale type, property condition, list history, and transaction timing need separate verification because the Redfin observation is an aggregate rolling period. The central unresolved question is whether a specific unit’s lease terms and physical characteristics align with the aggregate asking-rent, household-burden, and resale signals reported here.
","findings":[{"body":"The current ZIP asking-rent index is $2,940 per month, and the annualized 30% income screen is $117,600. That stands well above the matched area’s $56,829 median household income. This is an arithmetic affordability comparison, not a prediction of tenant outcomes, a leasing recommendation, or an applicant qualification standard.","title":"Asking-rent growth meets a demanding income screen"},{"body":"One-year, three-year, and five-year exact same-month rent changes were all positive, with the latest pace below the five-year rate. Low-to-moderate monthly variability improves confidence in the current index as a broad snapshot, but the recorded maximum drawdown shows that the historical series has experienced meaningful downward movement.","title":"History is positive but not free of reversals"},{"body":"The matched Census area is predominantly renter occupied and contains a large concentration of large multifamily units. More than half of renter households with burden data paid at least 30% of income toward gross rent. These ACS results describe occupied renter households in aggregate and cannot establish the availability, pricing, or affordability of a particular apartment.","title":"Renter-heavy stock and burden data add context"},{"body":"Direct Redfin ZIP resale data showed a lower median sold price year over year, limited sales volume, long marketing time, and elevated months of supply. Those for-sale signals contrast with the positive rent-history measures. The annualized rent-to-price figure is useful only as a cross-source screening ratio and does not measure property-level economics.","title":"Resale conditions challenge the otherwise rising rent signal"}],"risks":["The Zillow asking-rent index is blended across rental types and reflects a typical observed market measure, so it may not match a specific unit’s bedroom count, condition, lease structure, availability date, or included utilities.","ACS median gross rent, renter burden, income, occupancy, and vacancy are matched-ZCTA five-year survey estimates for aggregate households; their timing, survey design, and gross-rent definition differ from a current asking-rent index.","Redfin’s resale evidence covers a rolling three-month direct ZIP observation with only 13 homes sold, and it describes for-sale transactions rather than rental leases, rental demand, or operating expenses.","Historical rent growth, variability, drawdown, and discovery ranks are backward-looking series measurements. They do not forecast future asking rents, future resale prices, tenant performance, property cash flow, or investment outcomes."],"qa":[{"a":"They come from different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a current typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Differences in timing, household occupancy, utility treatment, and measurement method mean the values should not be treated as competing quotes for the same apartment.","q":"Why is the current asking-rent index much higher than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom figures are modelled estimates created by scaling the ZIP Zillow asking-rent index using the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are not measured bedroom-specific asking rents, signed leases, or unit-level comparables. HUD FMR or SAFMR itself is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not an asking-rent survey.","q":"Are the bedroom figures observed rents for studios through four-bedroom apartments?"},{"a":"It is the annualized ZIP Zillow asking-rent index divided by Redfin’s median sold price in the direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation. It is useful only for high-level cross-source screening. It does not include expenses, financing, taxes, maintenance, vacancy experience, property condition, tenant terms, or transaction-specific characteristics, so it is not a cap rate or return measure.","q":"What does the Redfin rent-to-price screening ratio indicate?"},{"a":"No. The five-digit label is used here both as Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and as a matched Census ZCTA reference. A ZCTA is a Census statistical area designed for data tabulation, while a USPS delivery ZIP is an operational postal geography. Their boundaries and practical meanings are not identical.","q":"Does the ZCTA match mean the area is the same as a USPS ZIP code?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR 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