Manhattan’s red-hot rental market cooled off, slightly, following a prolonged summer peak that saw prices surge to new heights.
The median price to rent an apartment in Manhattan dropped to $4,350 last month, a $50 decline from the record-high $4,400 in July and August, according to the latest rental market report from appraisers Miller Samuel and brokerage giant Douglas Elliman.
The average price for a rental in September fell to $5,442 — down 2% from the $5,552 in August, according to the data.
Median rent, largely known as a more reliable way of tracking prices, is the mid-point value of total samples.
The average is the sum of all rents divided by the number of samples.
Though Manhattan’s rents have fallen off their record high, Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller told The Post that “meaningful relief to tenants is probably not going to be felt this fall.”
“Several months ago landlords began to more aggressively court tenant renewals and tenants quickly pivoted to one-year leases, believing rents will be less next year. However, at this point the best tenants can hope for is that rents are unlikely to be higher than they are now,” Miller said.
Landlords did offer concessions on nearly 12% of all new leases in September — the highest figure in five months.
The value of move-in perks — such as sellers covering the cost of one month’s rent, installing new appliances or a broker’s fee — equated to 1.3 months’ rent, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman’s report showed.
New lease signings were down over 12% from August, nudging vacancy rates to 3.07%, the highest they have been since August 2021, when Manhattan was still experiencing pandemic-induced voids across its housing sector.
Despite less bidding wars, rentals didn’t stay vacant for long in September, getting scooped up after 31 days — down from 39 days in August.
The median rental price for a studio apartment in Manhattan was $3,150 last month, a 1.6% month-over-month decline, according to Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman.
One-bedroom apartments fell 1.2% to $4,200 and a two-bedroom dipped 2.7%, to $5,500.
Across the East River, Brooklyn’s median rental price tumbled 4% dip, to $3,700, in September, while Northwest Queens, home to the popular Astoria neighborhood, plunged 9.5%, to $3,528, Miller said.
The report does not include The Bronx or Staten Island.
Though September marked a light at the end of the tunnel for renters, homebuyers are still facing headwinds.
The cost of financing a home surged again last week as the average long-term US mortgage rate climbed to its highest level since December 2000, further dimming the affordability outlook for many would-be homebuyers.
The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.49% from 7.31% last week, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.66%.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also increased.
The average rate rose to 6.78% from 6.72% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.90%, Freddie Mac said.
High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford in a market already out of reach for many Americans.
They also discourage homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates two years ago from selling.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage is now more than double what it was two years ago, when it was just 2.99%.
With Post wires
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