How Long Do NYC Housing Lotteries Stay Open?

An NYC Housing Connect lottery is usually open for about three weeks. Of 48 rental lotteries that appeared on Housing Connect from June 24 to October 8, 2026, 43 closed 20 to 22 days after they appeared. The median was 21 days, the city's minimum since September 1, 2026.

Published October 13, 2026. Data: NYC Housing Connect adverts, read October 13, 2026.

The numbers: Two large Bronx lotteries (169 and 227 units) stayed open for 60 and 65 days. Before September 1, 2026, the city's Marketing Handbook gave rental lotteries with 20 or more units a 60-day advertising period. The minimum for every lottery is now 21 calendar days.

In 2021 to 2025, rental lottery deadlines came at a steady pace: 1,398 lotteries in five years, about 23 a month. Every month of every year had at least 9. In our data there is no quiet season to wait for.

Figures come from RentReboot's copy of public Housing Connect lottery adverts. We first loaded the portal on June 5, 2026, and have checked it for new lotteries every day since (every two hours since mid-July).

How long is a Housing Connect lottery open?

We record the first time our sync sees each new lottery. For the 48 rental lotteries first seen after our first load, we counted the calendar days from that day to the deadline.

• 43 of 48 (89.6%) had a deadline 20 to 22 days after they first appeared. 26 had exactly 21 days.
• Three were 18, 23 and 24 days.
• Two were much longer: 60 days (169 units, first seen July 10) and 65 days (227 units, first seen September 2, deadline November 6). Both are in the Bronx.
• 12 of the 48 had 20 or more units. 9 of those 12 had 20 to 24 days.

The 21-day pattern was already there before the rule changed. The 27 lotteries first seen before September 1 had a median of 21 days; the 21 first seen from September 1 had a median of 22 days.

Lotteries open before our first load were often open longer. Of the 52 rental lotteries already open on June 5, 2026, 22 had a deadline 30 or more days after that date, so each was open for at least 30 days. 10 had a deadline 50 or more days later. We do not know when those lotteries opened, so these are lower bounds.

The 21-day Housing Connect rule from September 2026

HPD and HDC, the city agencies that run Housing Connect, published an addendum to their Marketing Handbook, effective September 1, 2026. It states: "The advertising period for standard and modified marketing is a minimum of 21 calendar days." It deletes the earlier text that gave "standard marketing" lotteries (20 or more units) a 60-calendar-day advertising period, and replaces the 30- and 60-day periods for homeownership with the same 21-day minimum. The agencies say the change follows the Mayor's SPEED report and aims to shorten the time apartments sit vacant.

The rule sets a minimum. The November 6 Bronx lottery shows that a longer period is still possible.

When do new NYC housing lotteries open on Housing Connect?

Our sync has checked Housing Connect every two hours since July 15, 2026. Of the 45 lotteries first seen since then, 31 were first seen in the check between midnight and 2 a.m. New York time. None of the 48 lotteries first appeared on a Saturday or Sunday.

Most deadlines also fall early in the week. Of 1,629 rental lottery deadlines from January 2021 to October 13, 2026, 522 (32.0%) were on a Monday. Only 11 were on a weekend.

How many NYC housing lotteries are open at once?

On each day from June 6 to October 13, 2026, we counted the rental lotteries that were open: first seen on or before that day, with a deadline on or after it.

• Median day: 16 lotteries open, with about 700 units. The range was 10 to 52.
• The highest count was on June 6 (52 lotteries). Many lotteries open at our first load had deadlines in June.
• From September 1 to October 13, the count stayed between 10 and 15 lotteries (median 13), with a median of 463 units open.

Housing Connect deadlines by month and year

Five full years, 2021 to 2025: 1,398 rental lotteries with 52,895 units, an average of 279.6 lotteries and 10,579 units a year.

• By calendar month, the average ran from 18.2 lotteries (July) to 27.4 (August and October). In no year did a month have fewer than 9 deadlines.
• 2024: 307 lotteries and 11,113 units with 2024 deadlines. HPD told the City Council that it marketed "over 10,000 units" in "over 300 lotteries" in 2024. HPD counts lotteries marketed in the year and may include homeownership, so the two counts are close but not the same measure.
• 2026 so far: from January 1 to October 13, 218 rental lotteries had deadlines, with 7,655 units. In the same window of 2025 there were 239 lotteries with 11,484 units. That is 8.8% fewer lotteries and 33.3% fewer units.

The same months are not busy every year. August 2025 had 34 deadlines; August 2024 had 21.

Which boroughs have the most NYC housing lotteries?

From January 2021 to October 13, 2026:

• Brooklyn had 730 rental lotteries (44.8%) and 22,797 units (37.3%).
• The Bronx had 399 lotteries and 14,359 units; Queens 316 and 13,406; Manhattan 173 and 9,795; Staten Island 11 and 692.
• Manhattan lotteries are larger: a median of 29 units, against 9.5 in Brooklyn and 8 in Queens.

By size, 1-bedrooms were 44.4% of the 61,049 advertised units, studios 22.9%, 2-bedrooms 27.9% and 3 bedrooms or more 4.8%. By income band, 39.1% of units were for 101% to 130% of area median income (AMI), 32.9% for 51% to 80%, and 22.2% for 50% or less. Our income guide shows what those bands mean in dollars for your household.

How often does a lottery that fits your income close?

Pick your borough, unit size and income band. The tool counts past rental lotteries with at least one matching unit and shows how often one closed.

For example, with all filters on "any", a rental lottery deadline came about every 1.3 days in 2021 to 2025. A narrow search, such as a 3-bedroom in Manhattan, matches far fewer lotteries. If you search narrowly, have your Housing Connect profile ready before a matching lottery appears.

How to avoid missing a Housing Connect deadline

These are practical steps, based on the measurements above. They do not change your odds in a lottery: the order of applications is random, and preferences and eligibility decide who is reached first (see our lottery odds report).

1. Check at least once a week. Every lottery we measured was open for at least 18 days, so a check every two weeks would have seen each one. A weekly check leaves more time to read the advert and gather documents.
2. Keep your Housing Connect profile ready. Income, household members and contact details go into one profile that each application uses. Our Housing Connect guide goes through it step by step.
3. Apply early, not on the deadline day. Deadlines often fall on a Monday. The advert states the exact cutoff.
4. Read the income band first. Each unit has a minimum and a maximum income. Use the income calculator before you spend time on an application.
5. After you apply, follow your status. Our Housing Connect status guide explains each status and your log number.

How we measured NYC lottery open windows

Source. RentReboot's copy of public NYC Housing Connect lottery adverts (HPD and HDC). The first load ran on June 5, 2026 and stored every lottery the portal served, including past ones. After that, each new lottery is stored when our sync first sees it. The sync ran once a day (about 3:20 a.m. New York time) until mid-July 2026, then every two hours. We used rows stored before midnight at the end of October 13, 2026 (New York time).

Lotteries counted. Rental adverts with a deadline, without Mitchell-Lama waiting-list openings: 1,710 lotteries with deadlines from August 25, 2020 to November 6, 2026. Units are the units listed in each advert. Borough comes from the ZIP code of the first building in the advert. Charts by year, month, weekday and borough use deadlines from January 1, 2021 to October 13, 2026 (1,629 lotteries), except where a figure names another window.

Open window. For the 48 rental lotteries first seen from June 24 to October 8, 2026: the deadline date minus the date our sync first saw the advert. A lottery that opened between two checks was seen up to one day late (two hours late after mid-July), so the real window can be slightly longer than measured. All 36 of these lotteries with a deadline before October 14 were still on the portal on their deadline day.

Cross-check. For deadlines from October 11, 2025 to October 10, 2026, this data gives 285 lotteries and 9,696 units, the same as the New York figures in our lottery odds report.

Limits. We cannot see lotteries that the portal removed before our first load or that opened and closed between two of our checks. Deadlines are the dates in the adverts; an agent can change a deadline after we read it. The full queries, the results file and a map from every number to its query are in our reproducibility notes.

Housing Connect lottery deadline FAQ

How long is an NYC housing lottery open? In our data, usually about three weeks. 43 of 48 rental lotteries that appeared from June 24 to October 8, 2026 had a deadline 20 to 22 days later; the median was 21 days. Since September 1, 2026, HPD and HDC set a minimum of 21 calendar days for every lottery.

Is there a best month to apply for NYC housing lotteries? Not in our data. From 2021 to 2025, rental lottery deadlines averaged 18 to 27 a month, and every month of every year had at least 9. The busiest months change from year to year.

How many NYC housing lotteries are open at one time? From September 1 to October 13, 2026, between 10 and 15 rental lotteries were open on any one day, with a median of 13.

When do new lotteries appear on Housing Connect? Of 45 lotteries we first saw after our sync moved to two-hour checks, 31 first appeared in the check between midnight and 2 a.m. New York time. None of the 48 we saw appear did so on a weekend.

How many NYC housing lotteries are there each year? From 2021 to 2025, an average of 279.6 rental lotteries a year closed, with 10,579 units a year. From January 1 to October 13, 2026, 218 rental lotteries had deadlines, with 7,655 units.

Can I apply to a Housing Connect lottery after the deadline? No. HPD says applications submitted after the deadline are not considered. Since September 1, 2026, a lottery can be open for as little as 21 calendar days, and every lottery we measured closed at least 18 days after it appeared. Check Housing Connect weekly and apply before the deadline day.

How long after the Housing Connect deadline do you hear back? Often months, and sometimes never. The Housing Connect FAQ says log numbers are assigned within a few weeks after the deadline. ACCESS NYC says it can take several months to hear back, and many applicants never do because the building fills before their number is reached. Our status guide explains each step.

What day of the week are Housing Connect deadlines? Most often a Monday. Of 1,629 NYC rental lottery deadlines from January 2021 to October 13, 2026, 522 (32.0%) fell on a Monday, and only 11 fell on a Saturday or Sunday. The advert on Housing Connect states the exact cutoff, so read it as soon as a lottery opens.

More guides to NYC housing lotteries

• NYC Housing Connect: How to Apply Without Missing a Step
• What Income Do You Need for an NYC Housing Lottery?
• What Does Your Housing Connect Status Mean?
• What Are the Odds of Winning a Housing Lottery?
• Mitchell-Lama, HDFC and rent-stabilized waiting lists
• Open NYC housing lotteries
• NYC rent data and reports

Sources for Housing Connect deadlines and the 21-day rule

Checked on October 13, 2026.

1. NYC Housing Connect: public lottery adverts with deadlines, units, rents and income bands (read through RentReboot's copy).
2. HPD and HDC: Addendum to the Marketing Handbook, Shortened Marketing Period (effective September 1, 2026): the 21-day minimum and the deleted 60-day text.
3. NYC HPD: Marketing Handbook: standard and modified marketing.
4. NYC HPD: Marketing guidelines: handbook addenda.
5. NYC HPD: Testimony of Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani, April 29, 2025: Housing Connect volume in 2024.
6. NYC Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, April 29, 2025, hearing transcript (Citymeetings.nyc): HPD's answer on 2024 units and lotteries.
7. NYC Housing Connect FAQ: log numbers within a few weeks after the deadline.
8. ACCESS NYC: NYC Housing Connect: several months to hear back.
9. NYC HPD: Housing Connect application guides: online and mail applications, late applications.