Manhattan apartment rents surged to new record highs in February, driven by intensifying competition as the spring housing market begins early.
Last month, signed new leases in Manhattan rose 6.4% to $4,500—$100 higher than the previous record set in the summer of 2023—according to Bloomberg, citing new data from appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman.
“It’s one of the most challenging times to be a renter,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, adding, “It’s really an irrational market because such a large swath of it is driven by irrational bidding.”
Last month’s bidding wars occurred during a traditionally cool market that doesn’t usually heat up until spring. New leases driven higher by bidding wars topped 27%—the largest share on record.
Miller noted, “I would argue that the volatility we’re seeing in the economy with the tariffs and the uncertainty that’s piling up is keeping consumers in rentals.”
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In Brooklyn, the median rent was $3,600, up 2.9% from a year earlier and $350 below the record high set in July 2023. But bidding wars were even more common than in Manhattan last month, happening in 35% of deals. And the average price per square foot hit an all-time high for the borough of $59.15, up 7% from a year earlier.
In the part of Queens that includes Astoria and Long Island City, the median rent rose 7% from a year earlier — the fourth annual increase in five months — to $3,466.
In a separate report, Corcoran COO Gary Malin said Manhattan’s rental market last month “experienced one of the lowest vacancy rates in three years, as it fell to 1.66%,” adding, “High prices and a competitive market continue to prompt many tenants to renew their current leases and simply stay where they are.”
Record high rents and migrant gangs…
Tech and Wall Street talent will just go elsewhere for affordable and safer living, such as Austin, Texas.
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