In Manhattan, rents rose for studios and one- and two-bedroom homes but declined sharply for three-bedroom homes. In Brooklyn, rents rose slightly for one- and two-bedroom homes but dipped for studios and three-bedrooms.
The Corcoran Group released our Rental Market Analysis for April 2020 today.
Due to fewer transactions market-wide, rental price statistics were deemed less reliable in April. However, it’s important to note that the market did not experience across-the-board price declines. Instead, more building owners chose to use incentives (no fees, free months of rent) to provide a sense of value during this challenging time for many tenants.
From March to April, rents for Manhattan studio apartments increased 7%, while they rose 3% and 4% respectively, for one- and two-bedroom homes. In contrast, pricing for three-bedroom units fell a substantial 10%.
In Brooklyn, we also tracked a notable decline in rents for three-bedroom homes – they fell 14% in the borough. Meanwhile, rents declined 2% for studios, but rose 2% for one-bedrooms and a negligible amount for two-bedroom apartments.
When examining concessions, 37% of rental transactions brokered by The Corcoran Group offered a free month’s rent and/or payment of the broker fee to entice new tenants in April 2020 – higher than the 34% in March.
In fact, this is the highest level of incentives we have charted in just over two years. The last time concessions were more prevalent was in February 2018, when they were found on 46% percent of new leases.
In April, the Manhattan vacancy rate was 1.37% – up from March’s rate of 1.12%. Due to the financial impact the pandemic has had on many New Yorkers, we attribute this rise in the vacancy rate to some tenants not renewing their leases, and instead seeking alternate housing.
Additional relevant findings of the April 2020 Corcoran rental report are outlined below.
- In April 2020, the average monthly rental price for a Manhattan studio was $2,569. For one-bedroom homes, the average was $3,123. For two-bedrooms, the average rent was $4,418. Finally, the average three-bedroom apartment rented for $4,931.
Brooklyn studio apartments (in the 14 neighborhoods studied) rented for $2,678 per month on average. For Brooklyn one-bedrooms, the average rent was $3,273 – while rents for two- and three-bedrooms clocked in at $4,001 and $4,614 respectively.
- The most expensive Manhattan neighborhood for renters in April was Midtown East with a median rent of $4,100. The West Village was the second-priciest area – with a median rent of $3,700.
For Brooklyn, DUMBO was the most expensive neighborhood in April with a median rent of $4,460 – followed by Brooklyn Heights, where the median rent was $3,900 per month.
- Manhattan rents were lowest in April 2020 in Harlem, with a median rent of $1,950. When examining neighborhoods below 96th Street, The Upper West Side was the least-expensive neighborhood for renters, with a median rent of $2,200.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, with a median April rent of $2,500, was the least-expensive Brooklyn neighborhood tracked in our report, followed by Crown Heights – where the median rent was $2,680.
- With a vacancy rate of 1.02%, Murray Hill was the Manhattan neighborhood with least inventory in April 2020, followed by the Upper East Side at 1.14%. On the other end of the spectrum, the vacancy rate was highest in Midtown West (at 1.61%) and the Upper West Side (at 1.60%)
Click here to view market statistics from March 2020, and click here to view market statistics from prior months.