The novel Coronavirus continues to transform the livelihood of New York City’s residential real estate markets. During the pandemic outbreak in early 2020, NYC was experiencing varying intensity in the number of deaths and cases compared to other regions of the United States mainly because it is a densely populated city. As the pandemic continued to worsen towards the middle of the year, many residents were willing to leave the city to embrace suburb life as they found it more affordable and could acquire spacious spaces (Suyin Haynes, 2020) With many vacant houses, the landlords came up with the initiative to lower rental prices to attract more residents to mitigate the increasing number of empty homes. Current literature reveals that although this motive encouraged many people to take advantage of the reduced prices, many suffered from the risk of eviction as the rental prices soon increased (Cohen et al., 2021). Many renters were yet to receive their jobs back after being suspended from mitigating the pandemic. Research shows that although the housing crisis and rent unaffordability were still present before the pandemic, as the city had recorded a 59% increase in the number of occupants in the city’s shelter between 2009 and 2019, the pandemic has played an integral part role in exacerbating the issue. In connection to this, the pandemic is blamed for intensifying economic inequality margins and housing prices.
This has left many residents on the verge of being forcefully evicted from their houses into the streets. The federal government 2-year eviction moratorium has already expired, and landlords are coming forward to file eviction cases. Reports identify that the judiciary is receiving more than 2000 eviction cases every week, revealing the seriousness of the issue. Statistics further reveal the devastating impact of the pandemic on the housing crisis in NYC by highlighting that over 596,000 families are remaining behind on rent. There were more than 110,000 cases of eviction filed during the pandemic (Cohen, 2021). Consequently, the risk of eviction and rent debt continues to threaten people of color residing in NYC. Further evidence reveals that the mission to bail out the indebted residents is experiencing revenue gaps which is threatening the ability of the real estate market to accommodate the low-income earners around the city and also those who have been suspended from their current place of work (Rahmaniani and Mohammadmoradi, 2021).
This evidence reveals the challenge that is lying ahead for the real estate market to overcome. It also shows the dilemma that the residents are currently facing, where they are left with the option of remaining on the property illegally or ending up on the streets with their families. The study will use literature analysis as the methodology to analyze other researchers’ opinions on the issue and the recommended strategies that can be followed to navigate the problem comprehensively. The literature analysis will also provide insights into the extremity of the housing crisis and the pandemic in NYC. The study aims at analyzing the issue of increasing housing crisis in New York City during the pandemic and the impacts the situation is having on tenants, landlords and the real estate market in general.