Long Island Apartments Edge Out Houses on Yield, Before HOA

Apartments edge houses on gross short-term rental yield across Long Island because their entry prices sit well below comparable houses while nightly rates compress much less. A 2-bed apartment trades at roughly $593,808 against $1,102,974 for a 3-bed house, yet the nightly rate gap is proportionally smaller. Averaged across bedroom counts, apartments come in at 5.4% versus 4.4% for houses, a gap of 1.0%. These are gross figures before HOA fees, which close a meaningful portion of that margin.

These numbers are Nassau County medians across 69 ZIP codes from Floral Park through Great Neck. Your specific neighborhood on the North Shore, South Shore, or near the Queens border can sit well above or below these midpoints.

Bedroom-by-Bedroom: Houses and Apartments Side by Side

City medians across 69 ZIP codes. Gross yields before HOA (apartments) and before operating costs.

The long-term figures tell a different story from the short-term figures at most bedroom counts. Long-term yields sit far tighter across property types because monthly rents scale more predictably with bedroom count than nightly short-term rates do. That means an investor who is ambivalent between strategies faces a clearer apartment-vs-house decision on short-term rental than on long-term rental, where the two property types sit closer together.

Why Apartments Win on Gross Yield, and What the HOA Does to It

The price mechanism is straightforward: entry prices fall faster than nightly rates as you step down from a house to an apartment. A 2-bed apartment in Nassau County sits at around $593,808 while a 3-bed house sits at around $1,102,974, yet nightly rates for the 3-bed house only step down from $256 to $180 for the 2-bed apartment. The denominator shrinks faster than the numerator, so the yield ratio tilts toward apartments.

HOA fees narrow that gap meaningfully. A 2-bed apartment on Long Island typically carries around $5,478 in annual HOA dues, though luxury buildings in Great Neck, Port Washington, and Long Beach with pools, doormen, or waterfront amenities charge considerably more. Subtract that from the apartment's gross rent and the effective yield advantage over a house shrinks. Houses carry their own maintenance obligations that are not HOA-labelled but are no less real: roof, HVAC, lawn, driveway.

The sharper risk with apartments on Long Island is HOA short-term rental restrictions. Individual condo and co-op boards routinely prohibit rentals under 30 days regardless of what state or local law permits. Co-op boards in particular often require owner-occupancy or long-lease-only rules. Always read the HOA or co-op bylaws and minutes before purchasing with a short-term rental strategy in mind.

Bedroom Count Shifts the Calculation

For houses, the 4+ bed band stands out at 5.2% while the 1-bed through 3-bed bands sit in the 3.9-4.3% range. Larger properties capture group and family travellers who pay nightly premiums that scale faster than purchase price at the top end. A 4+ bed house on Long Island can host multi-generational trips and weekend reunions near the beach towns, and nightly rates respond accordingly.

For apartments in Nassau County, the 4+ bed band actually holds yield well at 5.4%, luxury condos in Great Neck, Garden City, and the Five Towns command higher nightly rates that roughly track the price step-up. The dip sits in the middle of the band at 2-bed, where prices have moved but nightly rates have not kept pace. The 1-bed apartment band carries the strongest apartment yield because entry prices are genuinely lower and nightly rates hold up for couples, business travellers, and small families visiting the region.

Suburb-Level Divergence Is Significant

The county median conceals a wide spread. West Hempstead (11552) runs long-term gross yields around 5.9% on a sale price near $760,000, while Garden City (11530) at $1,250,000 yields closer to 5.3%, the higher-price Gold Coast suburbs like Great Neck and Garden City tip the ratio toward appreciation rather than cash flow. That spread matters: whether an apartment outperforms a house in your chosen ZIP depends on the specific mix of inventory and nightly rates in that postal code, not the county average. The dashboard shows suburb-level data for every bedroom count and property type, so you can compare within the specific area you are evaluating.

View Long Island in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type

Regulation Is the Real Swing Factor on Long Island

New York has strict short-term rentals regulation, especially in NYC. NYC Local Law 18 (2023) effectively bans most short-term rentals under 30 days. Upstate areas vary. State and local hotel room occupancy taxes apply. Check local rules carefully. Long Island sits outside NYC Local Law 18's direct reach, but several towns and villages have their own short-term rental ordinances, Southampton, East Hampton, and parts of Nassau County villages impose registration requirements, minimum stay rules, or outright bans in residential zones. The modelling here assumes 330 available nights per year, which is the dashboard's default for an unrestricted market and accounts for maintenance and turnover gaps, not a legal cap. Always confirm the specific village, town, or co-op rules before underwriting a short-term rental strategy.

Warning: short-term rental figures apply only where legally permitted by local ordinance and, for apartments, by the HOA or co-op board. Verify both layers before purchasing.

What the Table Does Not Capture

• HOA fees: Estimated at around $5,478 per year for a 2-bed apartment, not deducted from the gross yields in the table above. Luxury Nassau condo buildings routinely charge more.
• Capital appreciation: Houses on Long Island historically outperform apartments on long-term value growth because you own the land outright, and Nassau's land is supply-constrained. This is the core reason the house-vs-apartment decision is not purely a yield question.
• Renovation potential: Houses offer optionality, extensions, finished basements, accessory dwelling units, that apartments cannot match. On Long Island, ADU rules vary by village, but the underlying flexibility belongs to the house owner.
• Financing constraints: Some lenders restrict mortgages on small apartments under 500 sq ft or on buildings with high investor-to-owner ratios. Co-ops in particular have board-approval requirements that add time and risk to closing.
• 4+ bed data breadth: The 4+ bed category bundles 4, 5, and 6+ bedroom listings. A small number of outlier Gold Coast estates can pull the median in either direction, treat 4+ bed figures as directional.

A Premium Appreciation Market, Not a Cash-Flow Market

Long Island's median 3-bed house at $1,102,974 sits roughly four times the New York state median of $294,094 and more than four times the national median of $242,500. The gross long-term yield of 3.9% sits below the national median of 5.3%. That is the signature of a premium appreciation market: investors accept lower current yield in exchange for land-backed long-term value growth and proximity to New York City demand.

That positioning shapes the house-vs-apartment decision here. If the thesis is appreciation, houses on the North Shore or in Garden City win on the land component regardless of the gross yield math. If the thesis is cash flow, a small apartment in a permissive village with a permissive HOA is the narrower but higher-yielding route, and upstate New York markets like Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo offer much higher gross yields for a pure cash-flow investor willing to leave the metro area. Methodology notes are available at our market score methodology and data sources pages.

Data reflects market conditions as of April 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.