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MANHATTAN (NYC) NY: The monthly rent paid by a tenant for a condo or coop in Manhattan was $3,870 in April, up 39% from a year earlier, according to a report from the brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants.
Last year, the net effective median rent -- or the amount tenants pay after factoring in incentives from landlords -- was $2,791.
Inventory is also at historically low levels as the market remains tight with vacancy rates under 2% for the fifth consecutive month and listing inventory down 77% from a year ago.
Rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbed above 5% last month and are expected to keep rising, causing many would-be homebuyers to opt out of the market as rising monthly payments diminishes their purchasing power.
The days of desperate landlords offering several months of free rent or paying broker fees on behalf of tenants during the pandemic are long gone.
With rents now about 10% above pre-pandemic levels, landlords are basically not offering incentives.
The number of bidding wars has been increasing over the past three months, pushing rents higher.
This dynamic is not expected to change soon, as the city heads into some of the most active months in the rental market between May and August.
