Buying a NYC home now takes nearly 15 years to pay off but these 5 neighborhoods buck the trend

New Yorkers wondering whether to keep renting or finally take the plunge into homeownership may want to look toward Queens — where buying can pay off in less than three years.In Rego Park, homeowners could come out ahead financially over renting after just 2.8 years, compared with a staggering 14.5 years citywide, according to a new StreetEasy report.And despite stubbornly high mortgage rates, several other neighborhoods across Queens and The Bronx offer buyers a chance to beat renters financially in fewer than five years.The findings come as New York City’s housing market faces a growing inventory crunch, with the number of homes for sale falling to its lowest October level since 2017.Across the five boroughs, just 17,496 homes were on the market last month, down 3.1% from a year earlier, according to StreetEasy.The shortage has been particularly punishing for entry-level buyers, with Manhattan’s pipeline of relatively affordable new condos projected to plunge 74% by 2029, as developers increasingly focus on luxury properties.Meanwhile, the median sale price reached $900,000, meaning a buyer putting 20% down would need to stay in their home for 14.5 years before owning becomes financially more advantageous than renting — up from 12.4 years in 2025.But the math looks dramatically different in certain pockets of the city.In Rego Park, where the median sale price was just $330,000 in October and the median asking rent stood at $2,999, buyers could reach the financial break-even point in 2.8 years — the shortest period of any neighborhood analyzed.Nearby Oakland Gardens came in second, with buyers pulling ahead after 3.4 years.Homes there sold for a median of $349,000, while asking rents averaged $2,750.Riverdale in The Bronx followed at 3.9 years, with a median sale price of $400,000 and asking rent of $3,275.Back in Queens, Kew Gardens Hills and Forest Hills rounded out the top five, with break-even periods of 4.3 and 4.6 years, respectively.The borough do...