PRESS RELEASE

Apartment hunters had to dig a little deeper last year to rent in Westchester County. That’s according to the new Average Advertised Rents Report for the 4th Quarter of 2005 released today by Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. (WRO). This year, Armonk had the highest rent for a three-bedroom rental, which jumped from $1900 to $2666. A one-bedroom in the Cortlandt/Montrose area rose from $1,000 to an average of $1788 per month –the highest in Westchester. That’s because both areas have low or limited availability of rental apartments/single family homes. Yonkers and Mount Vernon had the lowest average rents for a one-bedroom at about 900 bucks.

In fact, in the last quarter of 2005, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,260, a 5.5% increase over the previous year. A two-bedroom apartment on average will cost $1,659, up 9.5% from the previous year, and three-bedroom apartments/homes rented for $2,077, up 10.4% from 2004. On the brighter side for consumers, studio apartment rentals dropped to $914, down 2 percent.

WRO Executive Director, Toni Downes said there are many factors that contribute to the increase in price for rental apartments in Westchester, including the cost of property taxes, utilities, home heating to name a few, as well as the steady migration from New York City.

Each year, WRO tracks apartment listings advertised in two local newspapers (the Penny saver and the Journal News) without a broker or other fees. The report was compiled between October 1st and December 31st, and based on 4,238 advertised units. This represents a 25% increase in the number of advertised units used in the 2004 report during the same period.

Most measures of affordability are set at 30% of the gross household income as a standard for reasonable housing payments. Using this standard a family must have an income of $50,400 to rent a one bedroom apartment and $66,360 to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Westchester.

The WRO Apartment Listing Service compiles listings in Westchester 2-3 times per week and distributes to consumers seeking rental housing throughout the calendar year free of charge.

Information on average rents by towns can also be found in the report. To request a copy, please call (914) 428-4507, ext. 301 or log on our website at www.wroinc.org.

Westchester Residential Opportunities, 470 Mamaroneck Avenue, Suite 410, White Plains, NY 1060