New Apartment Leases in Manhattan Surged 112% In February

The number of new residential leases in Manhattan jumped by 112% in February—the most in nearly a decade and the highest level since the Great Financial Crisis, according to DouglasElliman’s February 2021 market report.

Rental prices, which have largely plummeted since the pandemic, have had a hand in stimulating leasing, and new lease signings have set record highs for the past five months. In Manhattan, the average rental price in February was $3,791, a 3% decrease from January numbers and a decline of 13.5% year-over-year. Existing price indicators decreased at a higher year-over-year rate than for new development rentals, and doorman new lease signings rose by more than twice the rate of their non-doorman counterparts.

New lease signings more than doubled year-over-over to 6,561 and net effective median rent fell year-over-year for the ninth straight month. Vacancy fell to 5% from 2.01% in February 2020, but was down from its peak of 6.14% in November.  All in all, lower price tranches saw a larger percentage decline in median rent than higher-priced properties.

The market share of landlord concessions clocked in at 41.3%, an increase of 4.6% from the same period last year but down from a high of over 60% in October. The landlord concession rental equivalent also shot up 40% year-over-year and reached the second-highest level on record of 2.1 months. The median rental price with concessions was $2,843 and accounted for nearly 42% of new leases ,but concessions for luxury properties were nearly half that of non-luxury properties. 

Brooklyn saw the highest monthly total of new lease on record since DouglasElliman began tracking the borough in 2008. New lease signings in February registered at 1,834, a 132.7% increase year-over-year, and the market share of landlord concessions increased 9.2% to 38%, down from a November peak of 55.1%. Supply reached 3,483 at the end of February and the average rental price rang in at $3,125, or $2,523 with concessions. 

And in Queens, net effective median rent declined year-over-year for the tenth straight month, and the monthly concession rental equivalent was the second-highest amount on record. The average rental price was $2,695, and the rental price with concessions was $2,397.