Manhattan apartment rents climb to highest on record for April

MANHATTAN apartment rents rose last month to a new high for April, an increase that suggests another record-shattering summer to come.

New leases were signed at a median of US$4,250, up US$9 from last April, according to appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

Rents now have climbed annually in three of the past four months. As landlords continue to push prices higher and vacancies stay near historic lows, prospective tenants realise they have no choice but to agree to pay more. As usual, competition is only expected to intensify as the weather warms.

“The question is whether we are going to beat last summer’s all-time highs,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. “Based on where we are now, it seems like it.”

The median soared to US$4,400 in July 2023, and in the fall declined as much as 9 per cent before beginning to inch upward in December.

The bright side for those who will be hunting for apartments in the coming months is that price growth so far this year has been more “moderate” than in 2023, Miller said. Last month’s 0.2 per cent annual increase, for example, pales in comparison with the 8.1 per cent spike reported a year earlier.

SEE ALSO

Making housing in New York more affordable

Manhattan apartment rents climb during busy February for leasing

Even as apartments got more expensive, leasing soared, with 42 per cent more deals signed last month than in April 2023. Miller partly attributed the jump to “churn”, as tenants declined renewals to move elsewhere, possibly motivated by a growing number of listed apartments. Inventory in Manhattan rose 23 per cent from a year earlier to 7,996 units.

Rents also hit a record for April in Brooklyn, where the median was US$3,599, up 2.8 per cent from a year earlier. In northwest Queens – the neighbourhoods closest to Manhattan – the median rent fell 8 per cent annually to US$3,244. BLOOMBERG