There are a few reasons for the rent appreciation. One is that New York has become a much more attractive place to live and work over the last few decades as crime has fallen and other amenities have improved, according to The New York Times’ economic reporter Catherine Rampell.

A second key reason that housing has become so expensive is that as demand for housing from both these occasional visitors and full-time residents has grown, supply has not kept up, writes the Times.

A third key reason housing is so expensive, related to the first one I mentioned, is that a lot of amenities that wealthy people like are bundled into the price of an apartment in New York, including a high concentration of bars, restaurants and theaters, and a greater variety of high-end goods.

Given the better pay in New York, housing costs are actually less onerous than they might seem, writes the Times.

Read the full report by Rampell in the Times here.