Meet a single mom in NYC whose rent went up $1,100 because the pandemic deal she got on her apartment expired

• The pandemic deal Kathrin DiPaola got on her Upper East Side apartment is expiring.
• She says her rent has increased by nearly 60%, or $1,100 per month.

When Kathrin DiPaola returned to New York in February 2021, after ten years away, it was still the city she loved — but, at the same time, a lot had changed.

"I always wanted to come back to New York as I felt like this was my home," the German-born single mother of two told Insider.

When it came to finding an actual home in the Big Apple, DiPaola knew she'd be in for a challenge. However, the real estate market, renowned for its exclusive listings and pricey rates, had taken an especially heavy hit as renters fled the city during the pandemic. During this time, rental prices dipped to decade lows in neighborhoods throughout the state.

Like many New Yorkers who stuck around, DiPaola took advantage of the market. She found what she thought was a good deal on a new place in a neighborhood she said offered ideal schooling for her children. She signed a 12-month lease for a three-bedroom apartment beginning April 1, 2021.

"I was thrilled that the rents on the Upper East Side were lower than any place else on the city side," DiPaola said, referencing Manhattan, as opposed to neighborhoods in Brooklyn. "I knew it was a special deal although it was not super low, but I figured how high can they actually go?"

This winter, DiPaola received her answer. Her rent, which she initially called an "amazing steal" at $2,220 for a 3-bedroom apartment, is set to climb nearly 60% to $3,300 per month starting in April. As a single mom of two earning $100,000 per year before taxes and working as a director of visitor engagement at an NYC museum, she's worried about finding the extra $1,1,00 every month. Renters all over New York are grappling with a similar conundrum as rents that were a great deal just a year ago return to — and in some cases surpass — pre-pandemic levels.

"We are in a different time now, things have changed in the last two years," DiPaola said. "I understand that space is expensive in the city, but can we really go back to where we were before and is that feasible?"

As pandemic deals expire, rents are rising by hundreds of dollars per month

Prior to the pandemic, DiPaola's apartment, a non-renovated fifth floor walk-up with no dishwasher, was listed around $4,000 per month, but when New York's real estate market took a hit — its market value plummeted by nearly 50%.

As New York rebounds from the pandemic and the impacts of the omicron variant wanes, rent in DiPaola's neighborhood has begun to pick up steam — regardless of whether or not renters in the area are earning more money.

DiPaola said that when her rent went up, "I called my landlord and I said, 'You know, our heat hasn't been working properly since October, the kitchen is not renovated and I'm wedged in between two buildings. Would you be able to go down a little bit?' He went down by $100 a month and said he couldn't do more."

On the Upper East Side, rent has been climbing as New Yorkers who left the city during the early stages of the pandemic return. Currently, the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in the Upper East Side is $3,600 per month — that's a 40% increase compared to 2021.

"The market is in the process of normalizing after nearly two years of uncertainty," Nancy Wu, economist at property database StreetEasy, said in a statement. However, the market is doing more than "normalizing" as some Manhattan rents are already $300 higher than their pre-pandemic high, according to StreetEasy's data.

"That's good news for the city's recovery overall, but, understandably, many renters or hopeful renters might be feeling uneasy right now."

According to Wu, concessions that landlords gave at the beginning of 2021 are set to expire in the first quarter of 2022, "leaving many renters with no choice but to move out of their pandemic-era discounted rentals." This outcome concerns DiPaola as her own neighbors have already fallen victim to rent hikes.

"We had one couple with older children living here and they had to move out," DiPaola said. "Before I knew what was going to happen to me, she told me her increase was $1500 a month."

Facing an imminent hike, DiPaola worries about what will happen with her own family. If not for a better-paying job offer in December, she would have already had to move. She signed another 12-month lease but if her rent rises more next April, she wonders where she'll go next.

"I really like the place and my son likes it as well but with a sister probably moving out and going to college, I think I'm going to start looking a little bit next year," she said, even though she'd prefer to continue living near her son's school and in the neighborhood that now feels like home. "What else can we do? The reality is, if my rent goes up to around $4,000, then I might as well look for a two-bedroom building with a doorman and dishwasher."

James Rodriguez contributed reporting to this story.