According to a 2025 Buyer Trends Survey conducted by StreetEasy, 56% of prospective homebuyers in New York City are planning to purchase a home with a co-buyer.
While 43% of all prospective buyers plan to buy with a partner or spouse, a growing share are teaming up with people they are not in a romantic relationship with. 9% of prospective buyers plan to purchase with a friend and 6% plan to buy with a relative.
This trend toward co-buying with friends and family is being driven by affordability constraints. The median price for homes sold in New York City in 2025 was $745,000 according to PropertyShark. In Manhattan the median was $1.15 million. Mortgage rates are currently in the mid-6% range. Closing costs in New York City run between 4% and 6% of the purchase price for buyers.
Many co-buyers are targeting multi-family properties with two or three separate units that allow each party to maintain their own living space while sharing the financial burden of ownership. Two-family homes in Staten Island and Brooklyn remain popular for this type of arrangement because they offer both independence and shared equity building.
The survey also found that the average age of prospective buyers in New York City is 46. Baby boomers make up 22% of prospective buyers, the second largest demographic behind millennials aged 30-44. 61% of prospective buyers expressed interest in single-family detached homes while co-ops attracted only 14% of buyer interest.
The median age of NYC renters has risen from 45 to 47 between 2013 and 2023, suggesting that renters are staying renters for longer. The growing trend of co-buying represents one way New Yorkers are working around affordability barriers to enter homeownership.
Sources: StreetEasy 2025 Buyer Trends Survey. PropertyShark 2025 data.
