Rental units across New York City in 2025 are off to a hot start, as almost all boroughs witnessed at least some price growth. The median ask rent in the metro was $3,397 at the end of the first quarter, representing a 5.6 percent or $179 increase year-over-year, according to data from Realtor.com. The units that the marketplace tracked included apartments, townhomes, condos, and single-family homes.
Manhattan led all of the NYC boroughs, with a 5.5 percent surge in rents. Brooklyn was next on the list at five percent, followed by Queens (4.3 percent) and the Bronx 0.7 percent). Meanwhile, Realtor.com said that data in this category for Staten Island remains under review.
By unit type, the strongest rent increases occurred in units with 0-2 bedrooms, which spiked by 7.2 percent to $3,365 in the entire city. Three bedrooms, in comparison, were only up by 1.2 percent to an average of $4,773. Overall, rent growth has been strong in NYC's rental market over the past five years, with the Bronx leading all of the boroughs with a 41.2 percent surge since then.
Recommended For You
"Although New York City was one of the rental markets that saw the steepest rent declines during the COVID-19 pandemic, its median asking rent rebounded to pre-pandemic levels by spring 2022 metro-wide and has continued to rise annually since then," Realtor said.
"With the fifth anniversary since the onset of the pandemic, the median asking rent in New York City was $521, or 18.1%, higher than the same time in 2020."
Meanwhile, one headwind lies ahead—particularly the 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are anticipated to "disrupt the multifamily housing pipeline," according to Realtor. This could force developers to scrap or delay project plans if costs spike. Realtor.com envisions that places that have recently seen the biggest increases in development approvals will be hit the hardest by the tariffs.
"Of the five boroughs, Manhattan (24.6%) and the Bronx (24.2%) posted the largest gains in newly permitted units relative to their 2019–23 averages," Realtor said.
"Meanwhile, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island—despite a dip in permit activity—are not insulated from the impact of rising development costs, which could further constrain new-construction applications and continue to elevate rent levels across the city."
It's unclear what the Trump administration's plans are regarding the imposed tariffs and how long they will stay in effect. But developers will want to pay close attention to this in the coming months.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
