Manhattan Apartment Rents Cruise to Another Record

The sky appears to be the limit for apartment rents in Manhattan, which notched a record high in May for the third straight month in a row, according to Elliman’s new report.

The median rental price in Manhattan hit $4,395 in May, a 3.6% increase over the April record of $4,241 and a 9.9% jump over the May 2022 level. Leases with concessions also set a new record, with a median rental price of $4,360, a 3.7% jump from April’s level of $4,205.

Leasing velocity surged by more than 30% in May, with the total tally of new leases jumping to 5,041, up from 3,869 in April. The number of days on the market for listings dropped to 35 from last month’s level of 48.

“New lease signings returned to their seasonal uptick after last month’s lull due to the banking crisis,” said Elliman’s report, which is written by appraiser Jonathan Miller. “Despite the increase in demand, listing inventory expanded 21.2% annually as record rents pulled more supply onto the market.”

Manhattan’s apartment vacancy rate held steady at 2.2%, a tick down from last month’s vacancy rate of 2.31% and still lower than the decade average for May of 2.5%

The average landlord concession in Manhattan was 1.2 months of equivalent rent, down 25% year-over-year and tied with April’s result for the lowest level since the pandemic started, Elliman reported.

“Since the rental season typically peaks at the end of the summer, more new highs may be achieved shortly,” Miller said, in the report. “The market share of bidding wars, a proxy for rents above the landlord’s asking price, was 17.4% [down] from 18.5% in the prior year, with a premium paid of 10%.

Lease terms for luxury rentals were at their most extended length since the beginning of 2022. The median luxury rental price in May was $11,000, a dip of 2.7% compared to April’s level of $11,310. Luxury listing inventory fell YoY for the first time since last summer.

Median rental prices in Brooklyn also reached a new high in May, hitting $3,550, up 1.4% from April’s record of $3,500. The number of new leases in Brooklyn shot up by nearly 40% in May to 1,664 from April’s tally of 1,189.

The market share of landlord concessions in Brooklyn slipped annually to 14.2% from 19.2%, the level in May 2022.

Northwest Queens also saw a surge in leasing activity, with new leases jumping to 380 in May, a 39% increase of April’s total of 274. However, the median rental price dripped 3.5% to $3,402 in May from April’s median of $3,525.