Sell Your Commercial Property In Buffalo, NY

Who rents in Buffalo

Buffalo had 276,854 residents in the ACS 2020–2024 estimates, living in 119,630 occupied homes. Renters occupied 68,134 of them, or 57.0%, and owners 51,496. The median household income was $50,041, well below the New York City figure of $80,483 but close to Rochester and Syracuse.

Rent burden is the main limit on pricing. Of Buffalo's renter households, 49.3% spend 30% or more of income on gross rent, and 29.1%, about 19,800 households, spend half or more (table B25070). The distribution is lopsided: 5,228 households pay 30% to 35% of income, 3,919 pay 35% to 40% and 4,617 pay 40% to 50%, so the severely burdened group is larger than the three moderate bands combined. Those tenants are sensitive to renewal increases, and voucher-assisted leases tie part of the market to HUD's payment benchmarks.

Employment near downtown is concentrated in health care and education. The Buffalo Comptroller's office describes the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus as a 120-acre site adjacent to downtown with more than 17,000 employees, after projects that included UB's $375 million medical school, Kaleida Health's $270 million Women and Children's Hospital and a $50 million Roswell Park expansion. BNMC itself reported 4.5 million square feet of development and $1.4 billion in investment on the campus, and said the medical school alone would bring about 2,000 faculty, staff and students there each day. The comptroller's page also counts some 20 other colleges and universities in the area beyond UB, with 110,000 students and 32,000 higher-education employees. Medical residents, hospital staff, researchers and graduate students add a steady renter pool within reach of downtown and Elmwood Village.

Rents and affordability

Buffalo's median gross rent of $1,046 includes utilities and averages leases over five years. HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rents for the Buffalo-Cheektowaga metro are $1,105 for a studio, $1,139 for a one-bedroom, $1,343 for a two-bedroom, $1,640 for a three-bedroom and $1,869 for a four-bedroom. Because the two-bedroom FMR sits about $300 above the city's median rent, a voucher-backed tenancy can support a higher rent than a typical market lease in many neighborhoods, subject to the local housing authority's payment standard and rent reasonableness review.

The same Census release shows how Buffalo compares with the other large upstate cities (ACS 2020–2024):

Buffalo has the lowest share of homes in larger apartment buildings of the four. That matters for sellers: a well-run 12-unit or 24-unit building is a less common product here than in Syracuse or Albany, and buyers looking for scale in the city have fewer options. Albany stands out in the other direction, with higher incomes and rents, while Syracuse is closest to Buffalo on rent but has a larger, somewhat newer apartment stock.

The apartment stock

Of Buffalo's 136,850 housing units, 49,580 are single-family detached and 47,870, or 35.0%, are in two-unit buildings (table B25024). Another 11,407 are in three- and four-unit buildings, so 59,277 units, 43.3% of the city, sit in two- to four-unit buildings that compete with apartments for the same tenants. Buildings of five or more units hold 23,129 units, 16.9% of the total: 5,183 in buildings of 5 to 9 units, 3,250 in 10 to 19, 5,444 in 20 to 49, and 9,252 in buildings of 50 or more.

The stock is very old. The median year built is 1938; 61.0% of units were built in 1939 or earlier and 89.7% before 1980, while only 2.9% date from 2010 or later (table B25034). Buildings of that age often still run on older boilers, plumbing and electrical systems, and pre-1978 units can carry lead paint, so buyers inspect closely.

Cheektowaga and Tonawanda, both named on our Buffalo page, are separate towns with their own assessors and tax rates, so the figures in this profile apply to buildings inside Buffalo city limits only.

Property taxes on apartment buildings in Buffalo

Buffalo uses New York's two-class system. Under Real Property Tax Law § 1901, the homestead class covers one-, two- and three-family homes and certain condominiums, and everything else, including apartment buildings, is non-homestead. The difference is large. For 2025-26, the City of Buffalo lists a non-homestead rate of $8.057512 per $1,000 of assessed value for the city and $5.019509 for schools, a combined $13.077021. The homestead equivalent is $6.515458, about half.

The same schedule lists Erie County's 2025 rate at $5.604583 per $1,000 and sewer rent at $1.298381. Together, that comes to about $19.98 per $1,000. On a building assessed at $1 million, the bill would be roughly $19,980 a year before any exemptions, of which $13,077 is city and school tax. A three-family home with the same assessment would pay $6,515 in city and school tax, which is why owners of small multifamily and owners of apartment buildings in Buffalo face very different expense ratios. The state's residential mansion tax applies only to one- to three-family homes, condos and co-op units, not to apartment buildings (NYS Tax Department).

New York assessments can be set at a fraction of market value, and the state publishes equalization rates to compare levels across municipalities (NYS Tax Department). Check your assessment against recent sales and income before you list. Buffalo runs its own grievance calendar, so confirm the deadline with the city assessor rather than relying on the late-May date common in towns (grievance process).

Landlord rules and local compliance

• Rent regulation: rent stabilization under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act applies in New York City, Nassau, Westchester and Rockland counties and in municipalities that adopt it after declaring a housing emergency (HCR). Buffalo was not among the 19 municipalities outside New York City listed by HCR as having opted into Good Cause Eviction as of May 4, 2026 (HCR notice).
• Registration: the city's rental registry covers non-owner-occupied one- and two-family homes and some three-family and mixed-use buildings. The proactive rental inspection program, added by 2020 amendments to Chapter 264 of the city code, applies to the same one- and two-family properties.
• Lead: the city says certificates of occupancy will be denied where a lead-based paint hazard exists, so lead work can affect a sale timeline.
• Deposits: capped at one month's rent, with an itemized statement within 14 days after a tenant leaves (GOL § 7-108).
• Nonpayment: a written rent demand with at least 14 days' notice is required before a summary proceeding (RPAPL § 711).

What this means if you own a building here

A Buffalo buyer will start with three numbers: the in-place rent roll, the non-homestead tax bill, and the capital plan for a building that is probably more than 80 years old. Rents in many buildings sit below HUD's benchmarks, which gives a new owner some room on turnover, but the tax rate on apartment buildings is about twice what owners of doubles pay, and that difference comes straight out of net operating income.

If you are thinking about selling, gather two years of operating statements, your assessment notice, any lead or code correspondence, and records of boiler, roof and electrical work. You can test value against different tax assumptions with our apartment building value calculator. The state transfer tax on a sale is 0.4% of the price, paid by the seller (NYS Tax Department). Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings in Buffalo, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda, occupied or in need of work, and our seller page explains how we underwrite.