Sell Your Commercial Property In Yonkers, NY

Who rents in Yonkers

Yonkers had 209,978 residents in the ACS 2020–2024 estimates, living in 81,645 occupied homes. Renters held 43,908 of them, 53.8%, and owners 37,737. The median household income was $83,549 and the median gross rent was $1,784.

Those figures put Yonkers close to New York City on rent while sitting just over its border. The same Census release shows how it compares with the city and with its Westchester neighbors on our New York market pages (ACS 2020–2024):

Yonkers sits in the middle of the group on rent and income, but it has the highest share of cost-burdened renters. Of its renter households, 52.3% spend 30% or more of income on rent and 28.3%, about 12,400 households, spend half or more (table B25070). The moderate bands are smaller: 3,549 households pay 30% to 35%, 3,142 pay 35% to 40% and 3,816 pay 40% to 50%. About 9,900 renter households, 22.5%, spend under 20% of income on rent. That split shows up building by building, and it is one reason two Yonkers buildings with similar rents can trade at quite different prices.

Health care is a local employer base. St. John's Riverside Hospital runs its Andrus Pavilion and ParkCare Pavilion campuses and the Cochran School of Nursing and serves Yonkers along with the Rivertowns.

The apartment stock

Yonkers has 85,006 housing units, and 43,562 of them are in buildings with five or more units (table B25024). Big buildings dominate: 22,278 units, 26.2% of the city, are in buildings of 50 or more, with 10,123 in buildings of 20 to 49, 6,145 in 10 to 19 and 5,016 in 5 to 9. Single-family homes, detached and attached, account for 24,686 units, and two- to four-unit buildings for 16,702.

The 50+ unit share matches New Rochelle's 26.2% and is well above Mount Vernon's 20.4%, while New York City's is 32.9% (ACS 2020–2024). In practice, that means a Yonkers seller of a 20- to 60-unit building is offering a familiar product: the city has more than 32,000 units in buildings of 20 or more, so buyers and lenders have more comparable buildings to price against than in most suburban markets.

The stock is mid-century rather than pre-war. The median year built is 1958, later than New York City's 1952, New Rochelle's 1955 and Mount Vernon's 1953 (ACS 2020–2024). About 22,653 units predate 1940, but 46,250 were built between 1940 and 1979, including 15,668 in the 1950s and 13,255 in the 1960s (table B25034). In all, 81.1% of the city's housing predates 1980 and 6.0% dates from 2010 or later.

That age profile matters because it lines up with rent stabilization. ETPA coverage in Westchester generally reaches buildings of six or more units built before 1974, so a large share of the city's postwar elevator and walk-up buildings are likely to carry at least some stabilized units. Buyers will ask for the registration history of each apartment, and a building whose registrations have lapsed or whose legal rents are unclear will usually be priced at a discount until the record is cleaned up.

Rent stabilization in Yonkers

Outside New York City, rent stabilization under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act covers Kingston and Nassau, Westchester and Rockland counties, according to HCR. In Westchester it applies only in municipalities that have adopted ETPA, and Westchester County lists Yonkers among them, with a minimum building size of six units in most adopting municipalities. The Village of Ossining's ETPA guide notes that the vast majority of Westchester's ETPA units are in Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle.

For covered apartments, the Westchester County Rent Guidelines Board sets the allowed increases on renewal and vacancy leases, and owners file registrations with the state. Stabilization stays with the apartment after a sale. Yonkers is not among the municipalities listed by HCR as having opted into Good Cause Eviction as of May 4, 2026 (HCR notice), so unregulated units in the city are not subject to that law's rent-increase test.

New supply and redevelopment

The city is pushing for more housing. In his 2026 State of the City address in March, Mayor Mike Spano said Yonkers would raise the share of affordable units required in new rental developments from 10% to 12%. He also described plans for the 33-acre former Domino Sugar property as a mixed-use waterfront district with retail, dining, waterfront access and Metro-North connectivity, carrying an affordable-housing set-aside, next to a new waterfront park backed by $9 million from the state and a potential $15 million from Westchester County. New buildings built under those rules will compete with older buildings mainly at the top of the rent range, not with stabilized apartments.

Taxes and closing costs

Yonkers assesses property itself, and New York assessments can sit at a fraction of market value (NYS Tax Department). The city bills city and school taxes in three installments and the county tax separately, and late installments accrue interest at 15% a year with no grace period. Yonkers sets its own grievance calendar, so confirm the deadline with the city assessor (grievance process).

The bigger sale cost is the transfer tax. Yonkers charges 1.5% of the selling price, paid by the seller and due within seven days after the deed is delivered and before recording. New York State adds 0.4%, also paid by the grantor. On a $4 million building, that is $60,000 to the city and $16,000 to the state, a combined 1.9%. For a 40-unit building at that price, $100,000 a unit, the transfer taxes come to about $1,900 per apartment, roughly a month of rent at the city median. The state's mansion tax applies only to one- to three-family homes, condos and co-op units, not to apartment buildings.

Landlord rules

• Deposits: capped at one month's rent; an itemized statement is due within 14 days after the tenant leaves (GOL § 7-108).
• Nonpayment: a written rent demand with at least 14 days' notice comes before a summary proceeding (RPAPL § 711).
• Stabilized units: registration and Rent Guidelines Board limits apply (above).
• Transfer tax filing: the city return is due before the deed is recorded; Yonkers exempts co-op unit sales and sales of $25,000 or less, so an apartment building sale is fully taxable (City of Yonkers).
• Taxes at closing: with 15% annual interest on late installments, buyers and title companies will require proof that city, school and county taxes are current.

What this means if you own a building here

A Yonkers buyer will start with the rent roll, unit by unit: which apartments are stabilized, what the registered rents are, and how far they sit below the $1,784 citywide median or the asking rents in new buildings. That gap, together with the 1.9% transfer tax and a 1950s or 1960s building's capital needs, sets most of the price. A renter majority and rents close to New York City's support demand, but that strength shows up mainly in free-market units.

Before listing, gather your state rent registrations, tax payment history and records of boiler, elevator and roof work. Our cap rate calculator and 1031 exchange calculator help you see net proceeds after transfer taxes. Skyline Capital Investments buys 5+ unit buildings in Getty Square, Park Hill, Ludlow, Crestwood and the rest of Yonkers, stabilized or free-market, and our seller page explains how we underwrite.