Manhattan tenants ditch higher rents for flood of better deals

New York

MANHATTAN renters left their apartments in search of better deals last month, pushing back against landlord price increases and taking advantage of a flood of new choices on the market.

New apartment leases totalled 5,203, a 34 per cent jump from a year earlier and the first increase for June since 2012, according to a report last Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc and broker Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Landlords granted concessions in 9.7 per cent of all new deals, the highest share for June in more than five years of record keeping.