NYC to Gain 50K New Housing Units by Year’s End

Thanks to a now-expired tax incentive, the city is seeing a record number of new homes being built.

1 minute read

September 28, 2025, 5:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Modern steel and glass buidings seen in Chelsea, Manhattan in New York City.

fornStudio / Shutterstock

New York City builders are on track to complete over 50,000 new housing units by the end of the year, reports Mary K. Jacob in the New York Post.

“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.” Just over 30,000 units were built in all of 2024. 

However, Jacob explains that “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,” making similar headway unlikely in future years. A new tax incentive, 485-x, has not garnered as much interest from developers as the 421-a incentive.

“Meanwhile, 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.” 

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 in New York Post

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