Across Manhattan and Brooklyn, rents were down and inventory was up during August, offering uncommon opportunities for apartment hunters.

The Corcoran Group recently released our Manhattan and Brooklyn Rental Market Analysis for August 2020. Renters in New York continue to experience comparatively favorable conditions, both in terms of value and choice.

During the month, overall Manhattan rents declined year-over-year, most notably for studio and one-bedroom homes. Pricing for these apartment types fell 9% and 11% respectively since August 2019.

Across the East River in Brooklyn, rents were down across the board when compared to last year. However, rentals in the borough experienced the most substantial declines in the two- and three-bedroom market. Two-bedroom rents fell 11%, while the discount hit 18% for three-bedroom units.

The vacancy rate has now topped 4%, reaching a new record — since at least the year 2007, when we began tracking this statistic. In August 2020, 4.19% of apartments were vacant, compared to 3.52% in July, and 1.17% last August.

When examining concessions, a full 50% 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 August 2020 — up slightly from 48% in July.

Additional relevant findings of the August 2020 Corcoran rental report are outlined below.

• In August 2020, the average monthly rental price for a Manhattan studio was $2,265. For one-bedroom homes, the average was $2,900.  For two-bedrooms, the average rent was $4,012. Finally, the average three-bedroom apartment rented for $6,006.

Brooklyn studio apartments (in the 14 neighborhoods studied) rented for $2,426 per month on average. For Brooklyn one-bedrooms, the average rent was $2,902 — while rents for two- and three-bedrooms clocked in at $3,755 and $4,532 respectively.

• The most expensive Manhattan neighborhood for renters in August was the West Village with a median rent of $3,550.  Midtown East was the second-priciest area — with a median rent of $3,544. Please note, due to limited activity, SoHo/TriBeCa and The Financial District/Battery Park City were not included in this month’s analysis.

For Brooklyn, DUMBO was the most expensive neighborhood in August with a median rent of $4,425 — followed by Boerum Hill, which had a median rent of $3,545 per month.

• With a vacancy rate of 3.23%, the Financial District/Battery Park City was the Manhattan neighborhood with the least inventory in August 2020, followed by Murray Hill at 3.44%.  On the other end of the spectrum, the vacancy rate was highest in the East Village (at 7.12%) and Midtown East (at 5.17%).