Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Rent Now Slightly Less Too Damn High In Manhattan
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Aug 19, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
James Andrews1 / Shutterstock
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Aug 19, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
As some New Yorkers have long left the city and housing advocates fear an eviction crisis, the rental market itself is showing signs of weakening in Manhattan.
A new estimate shows that the median residential rental price in Manhattan dropped 10 percent last month compared to July 2019, according to a report from real estate company Douglas Elliman.
In Manhattan, the median rent for an apartment dropped from $3,521 in July 2019 to $3,167 in July 2020, a decline that the report called "most significant annual decline in almost nine years of record-keeping."
Nonetheless, as one of the priciest places to live in the world, Manhattan is still out of reach for many New Yorkers. The average household income in New York City was less than $61,000, according to the most recent U.S. census.
Consistent with rents falling, the supply of Manhattan apartments has also gone up. The vacancy rate in Manhattan also rose to 4.3 percent, a new record, the report found.
StreetEasy counted 67,348 available rentals in July across the city, compared to 44,245 in July of last year. The Times, which first reported that data, noted the numbers were the highest in a given month since 2010, when the real estate site began tracking such data. In Manhattan, there were 37,195 available rentals, compared to 22,513 in July of last year, according to StreetEasy.
The vacancy rate rise has recently spurred a concern that NYC's rent regulation system is at risk of lapsing—since the lower than market-rate rents are tied to at least a 5 percent vacancy rate.
In a similar dramatic decline, Northwest Queens rents dropped 14.6 percent from $2,837 in July 2019 to $2,424 in July 2020.
Brooklyn rents, however, have dropped only slightly, declining just 1% since July 2019 to a median monthly rent of $2,902 in July 2020.
The median rent prices account for concessions offered by landlords, like the first month's rent free. In Manhattan, for instance, the average number of months' rent owners paid for rose from 1.1 in July 2019 to 1.7 in July 2020.
On Tuesday, when asked about what would happen should the vacancy rate continue to rise, endangering rent stabilized apartments, Mayor Bill de Blasio called the scenario "literally inconceivable to me."
"I think it's a fair question to say, could we be in an unprecedented situation? I think that's a very fair question," the mayor told reporters during a virtual news conference. "I do think rent levels are going to start to go down. I think you're seeing evidence of it already. But it's a fair question, could it be a legal trigger? Even if that is possible, I don't have a doubt in my mind that the Legislature will immediately create continuity with our current approach to rent stabilization and rent control."
Two state lawmakers have introduced a measure to hold off an official vacancy rate count until two years after the COVID-19 emergency to "allow the market to stabilize," as one sponsor, State Senator Brad Hoylman, told THE CITY.
Nancy Wu, an economist for StreetEasy, wrote earlier this month that it wouldn't be surprising to see rents fall even more into spring of next year.
Those "leaving the city are not being replaced by others moving in. The new hires who typically move to the city are starting their jobs remotely. Fewer students will return to the city in September, when colleges in the city, such as Columbia and CUNY, begin the school year teaching most courses remotely," Wu wrote.
Tagged
COVID-19
housing crisis
rent
coronavirus
the rent is too damn high
housing
tenants
Sydney Pereira
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
5 men charged with trespassing in 2 Manhattan manhole cases
Two people who were found soaking wet and smelling of sewage say they went underground to look for jewelry, according to police and a criminal complaint.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 23, 2026 at 7:49 p.m. ET
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
News
6-year-old girl breaks leg after getting hit by falling bricks in Queens
The girl was walking with her mother in Maspeth on Thursday. The Department of Buildings cited the owner of a garage for “failure to maintain” it.
By
Charles Lane
Mamdani extends ban on permits for new street fairs due to NYPD overtime
By
Carol Chen
Inside the Midtown Bus Terminal rebuild: Decks over Lincoln Tunnel approach, a new park
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Black couple seeking Queens apartment sues over racist text from broker
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .