NEW YORK CITY—New York has more than 60,000 units under construction and that's the most out of any city that CoStar Group tracks. Even with the Big Apple growing at a rate of 50,000 people per year, due to construction, the vacancy rate of apartments has stayed approximately the same—never exceeding 4% or going much lower than 2%. This dates back to when CoStar began collecting this information in 1994.

In a GlobeSt.com interview, CoStar Group market analyst for New York City, Lauren Baker, says the city's economy is driving this construction and population boom. “People want to live where they are working, so office construction drives residential properties, and all of these companies want to be in Manhattan,” says Baker. “Highly educated, younger people, 24 to 35-year-olds with a bachelor's degree are moving into Manhattan.” In contrast, the outer areas in the state of New York have been decreasing in population.

CoStar's New York multifamily market report states 2017 was a mixed bag for New York's financial sector, which is still the city's largest economic driver. Financial sector employees account for more than one-quarter of total wages paid. With expansions by private equity investors, hedge funds and M&A shops, this sector added more jobs than historic averages and the national average.