New York City Apartment Rents Finally Dip After Months Of Record Highs

Residential rents in New York slipped slightly in September, a small reprieve for renters, although the prices remain well above pre-pandemic levels after months of steady increases.

In Manhattan, the median rent was $4,350 last month, a 1% drop from August but still 8% higher than last September's rents, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The number of new leases signed was down 12%, and the vacancy rate edged up slightly to 3%. The part of the borough with the biggest drop in price was Downtown, which saw rents fall 2% from the month before. 

In Brooklyn, the median net effective rent was $3,670 in September, a nearly 4% fall from the August rate. The price is still 6% higher than September 2022, however. New leases were down nearly 25% year-over-year. Brooklyn luxury apartment rents fell more than 8% to $7,500. 

In Queens, median rent was $3,515 last month, taking concessions into account. That marks a nearly 9% drop from August, but the average apartment in the borough still rents for nearly 11% more than it did a year ago. New leases on Queens studios were down nearly 40% from August.

Cost of housing has been a major problem for the city’s renters since the city reopened after the worst of the pandemic. In 2020, after people left the city, rents collapsed by some 25%, moving the power from landlords to renters, many of whom secured major concessions like free rent and amenities deals.

However, since 2021, rents have been climbing steadily, worsening the housing crisis and alarming advocates and the real estate community alike. This summer, as the city was breaking new rent records every month, the number of new leases began slowing — a sign that a shift in the market was beginning.

“We're hitting some sort of affordability threshold,” Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller told Bisnow in August. “The drop in leasing activity probably means that landlords are being more aggressive on renewals to retain their tenants.”