New York City is on pace to complete more than 50,000 new housing units by the end of the year, a milestone that would align with Mayor Eric Adams’ long-term housing goal — but one that experts warn may be difficult to replicate in future years.
According to newly released data from the Department of City Planning, developers finished construction on 25,674 residential units in the first six months of 2025.
New York City is on track to complete over 50,000 new homes by the end of 2025, a pace that would meet Mayor Eric Adams’ ambitious goal of creating 500,000 new units over the next decade. Paul Martinka
In the first half of the year alone, developers wrapped 25,674 units and filed plans for nearly 12,000 more, surpassing 2023 and 2024’s planning figures. Linda Harms – stock.adobe.comIf that pace holds, the city could close out the year with more than 50,000 completions — far surpassing last year’s tally of just over 30,000, itself the highest figure since 1965.
“These homes will make a meaningful difference in bringing down costs and addressing our city’s housing crisis. But we know there’s more work to be done,” Dan Garodnick, director of the Department of City Planning, told Crain’s in a statement.
The spike in completions can be traced back to a pre-2022 rush to break ground before the expiration of the 421-a tax exemption, a long-standing incentive for affordable housing construction.
Brooklyn led in completions with roughly 12,000 units. Paul MartinkaWith many of those projects now coming online, the question becomes whether the city can continue this level of production without similar incentives in place.
Brooklyn accounted for nearly half of all newly finished homes, with about 12,000 units completed. Queens followed with approximately 6,500, trailed by the Bronx with 4,600, Manhattan with 2,600, and Staten Island with 300.
“The long-term goal is to restrain rental price growth; however, the immediate goal is to continue creating more supply to meet heavy demand,” appraiser Jonathan Miller told The Post.
Meanwhile, Manhattan saw the most new permits — largely for office-to-residential conversions. Christopher SadowskiMeanwhile, new permit filings totaled just under 12,000 units citywide — lower than completions, but still a notable improvement over the first halves of 2023 and 2024, which each saw fewer than 10,000 units filed.
Manhattan led permit activity with around 4,400 applications, the majority of which were for building alterations rather than ground-up construction.
That trend points to continued interest in converting existing office stock into housing — a strategy city officials have increasingly embraced in the post-pandemic era.
Much of the current boom is attributed to a rush of projects started before the expiration of the 421-a tax break in 2022, so it is unclear if construction is able to keep up with the pace. Christopher Sadowski“Right now, the track is not continuing at 50,000 a year moving forward,” Andrew Fine, policy director at pro-housing group Open New York, added. “And we have to keep on improving our policies to get there.”
Many in the industry have voiced skepticism over the replacement for 421-a, known as 485-x, which has failed to attract the same level of developer interest.
Some hope that other policy efforts, such as the City of Yes zoning reforms and the 467-m tax incentive for office-to-residential conversions, can help bridge the gap. But without stronger financial and regulatory support, advocates say, the pace of construction may soon taper off.
