NYC Rents Plateau in August, Still Near Record Highs

By:  Mario Mancini

After months of NYC rents hitting record highs, things have cooled off as little tad, but not so much,  according to the latest reports.

In July rental market report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel — a monthly release tracking pricing in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and parts of Queens — which found that median and average rents in Manhattan climbed to a respective $4,150 and $5,113 per month.

Those July numbers were even higher than the month before, which set a record.

The June rental report, released in July , found that the average rental price in Manhattan broke the $5,000 threshold for the first time ever. In May, the median rent price reached $4,000 for the first time.

Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel market report that tracks price trends in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and parts of Queens. In August, the report shows, the Manhattan median rent lowered slightly to $4,100 per month — a decrease of $50 month-over-month, though still a 26% jump from the $3,255 median tallied in August 2021, NY Post summarized.

From The Douglas Elliman report summary:

The record-setting median rent streak in Manhattan ended in August as prices began to plateau. Median rent and median net effective rent were the second highest on record, ending a record-setting streak that began in February. The vacancy rate edged higher month over month for the fourth straight month. New leases rose month over month for the sixth consecutive month. The market share of one-year leases exceeds 50% for the first time since February 2021. Landlord concession market share for new developments was more than double existing rentals.

Non-doorman rentals, representing roughly half the market, did not reach a record rent, unlike the doorman rental market. The market share of bidding wars accounted for one out of five new leases. Luxury net effective median rent rose annually to a new high as concessions fell to the third-lowest level on record. Luxury listing inventory was essentially unchanged from the prior year and well below pre-pandemic levels.

The record-setting median rent streak in Brooklyn continued for the fourth consecutive quarter. Net effective median rent and median rent rose to new highs. Landlord concession market share continued to slide, reaching its lowest level in five and a half years. The market share of bidding wars accounted for one out of five new leases.

In Northwest Queens, net effective median rent reached the third highest on record as the pace of price gains eased. Median and median net effective rent fell month over month from the prior month’s records. Landlord concession market share continued to slide year over year. The market share of bidding wars accounted for nearly one out of four new leases.

Manhattan saw 5,844 new leases in August, marking a 9.9% increase from the 5,318 deals inked in July — though a 28.7% drop from the 8,201 in August 2021 when prices remained much lower. Month-over-month, listing inventory — or the number of available homes — generally remained constant with 6,713 in August, less than 1% more than July’s 6,669, according to the NY Post.

These high rents show that there still is a demand to live in NYC, even with the increasing crime. Even though the majority of New Yorkers are now working from home, the rent prices show the city is not dying as many have predicted during the pandemic. The city did however lose 300,000 residents since the pandemic. It should be interesting to see if the population numbers change when new data becomes available.