By: Meyer Wolfsheim

Manhattan rents soared to record levels in June, continuing a relentless upward trend that’s now stretching into its seventh consecutive month, according to a joint report from appraisal firm Miller Samuel and real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman — as the New York Post first reported.

The average rent in Manhattan jumped 7% year-over-year to an all-time high of $5,450. The median rent — a key metric that represents the midpoint of all leases — also reached a new record, climbing 7.6% over the past year to $4,625, the NY Post reported.

Even on a per-square-foot basis, Manhattan rent surged 4.4% annually, reaching the second-highest level on record, according to the report. Limited inventory and high demand continued to drive prices upward. In June alone, 7,301 new leases were signed — a 7.8% annual increase — outpacing a modest 4.4% rise in available listings, which totaled 10,265.

Manhattan’s vacancy rate fell sharply, landing at just 2.14% in June, down from 2.83% a year prior. The tight market has driven renters into intense competition, with roughly 25% of apartments being leased above the landlord’s asking price. The average premium paid in these bidding wars was 11.2%, the NY Post reported, showing just how fierce the market has become.

Luxury rentals haven’t been spared from price hikes either. The entry-level threshold for Manhattan’s luxury segment began at $8,299 per month, while the median luxury rent remained steady at $10,000 — unchanged from the previous year.

Brooklyn, while less expensive than Manhattan, also continued to experience rising rents. The borough saw a 1% increase in median rent over the past year, bringing it to $3,733, while average rent rose 2.8% to $4,210. According to the report cited by the NY Post, this marks Brooklyn’s ninth straight month of year-over-year rent increases.

Rent per square foot in Brooklyn climbed 6.2%, reaching $60.89 — a new record and the fifth time in six months that the borough set a new high. The number of new leases in Brooklyn surged to 4,066 in June, an 8.1% increase from last year. However, the number of available listings ballooned by 22.3%, reaching 6,649 — indicating that supply is finally catching up, albeit slowly.

Bidding wars remained common in Brooklyn as well, with nearly 32% of rentals going above the asking price. The average premium was 12.6%, up from 28.2% of units leased above ask a year ago.

In Queens — particularly northwest neighborhoods like Astoria and Long Island City — rent increases were even more dramatic. The borough recorded a 10.8% jump in median rent, reaching $3,600, the largest year-over-year gain among the three boroughs. The average rent rose 7.9% to $3,882, while rent per square foot went up 6.9%, as the NY Post detailed.

Queens also saw 820 new lease signings in June, a 6.2% increase from last year, though that was eclipsed by a massive 34.1% jump in listing inventory. Like in Manhattan and Brooklyn, bidding wars were common: 24% of units were leased above asking price, up from 19.8% last year.

These relentless increases have turned rent and housing affordability into key issues in New York City politics. As the NY Post reported, newly elected Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani won the primary largely on a pledge to freeze rents on the city’s nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments. His proposed four-year rent freeze would rely on appointing Rent Guidelines Board members committed to blocking any increases.