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Rent in NYC is really high
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Feb 9, 2023
Modified Feb 9, 2023
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By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Feb 9, 2023
Modified Feb 9, 2023
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Rents in Manhattan and other parts of New York City are soaring to record or near-record highs, according to a new Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel report.
The report shows a median rent of $4,097 for Manhattan — a historic high for the mid-market rate in January. It is the third-highest level on record, representing an increase of more than 15% from the same time last year. Rent prices in the borough have repeatedly broken records as the city continues to rebound from COVID-19.
Brooklyn, meanwhile, broke a new record in January for average rental price at $4,165. It constituted a jump of nearly a third from the same time last year.
“Average rent and average rent per square foot rose to a new high as the median rent was the second highest in history,” the report reads.
Northwest Queens, which includes Astoria, also shattered records last month, with net effective average and median rents surging to the highest levels on record for the area. The median rent was $3,369 for January.
"I'm sad to say that I feel a little bit inert to these quarterly reports," said Cea Weaver, an organizer with the statewide Housing Justice for All Coalition who fights for greater tenant protections. "Because it feels like they come out all the time and the rents are really high, and I am like, okay, great. Like what's new? Rent is high in New York and politicians are doing absolutely nothing about it."
Rents have soared across the five boroughs as workers have been encouraged to return to offices and people who had left during the height of the public health crisis have returned. Some housing experts predicted that rates would begin to decline in 2023, after a year of record-high prices, explosive consumer demand and bidding wars in a city that already had a brutally competitive housing market prior to the pandemic.
But the Elliman report shows no signs that deep discounts for renters are imminent.
The average rent in Manhattan landed at $5,142 in January, slightly lower than the previous month but significantly higher than last year. People are also scooping up rentals more quickly, with less than 10 days on the market compared to the same time last year. The average rental price for a studio apartment in the borough was $3,152, up from December.
And the Manhattan rental supply shrunk slightly in January compared to the month prior, for a vacancy rate of roughly 2%.
Catalina Gonella contributed reporting.
This story has been updated with comment from Cea Weaver.
Tagged
new york city
manhattan
Michelle Bocanegra
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