Harlem Rents Keep Falling As Manhattan Hits Record Low: Study

HARLEM, NY — As New York City rents continue to drop in year two of the pandemic, Harlem has been no exception, with prices in the neighborhood dropping even further in 2021, according to a new study.

The new study by StreetEasy, released Friday, examined real estate listings across the city during the first quarter of 2021.

It found that rents in much of the city are lower than they have been in years, continuing a pattern that began in the early days of COVID-19. In Manhattan, the median asking rent was $2,700 — the lowest figure on record.

In Harlem, asking rents in each part of the neighborhood were far lower this year than they had been at the same time last year. They were lower, too, than they had been at the end of 2020, signaling a consistent decline.

Here is the breakdown by each part of Harlem included in the report:

• Central Harlem: $2,290 median asking rent (8.2 percent drop, year-over-year); $900,000 median asking price (2.9 percent drop, year-over-year)
• East Harlem: $2,000 median asking rent (16.5 percent drop; $685,000 median asking price (8.5 percent drop)
• Hamilton Heights: $2,200 median asking rent (10.2 percent drop; $599,000 median asking price (8.1 percent drop)
• West Harlem: $2,290 median asking rent (8.4 percent drop; $775,000 median asking price (39 percent drop)

Across Upper Manhattan, rents fell by 9.4 percent compared to last year in the area that includes Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood — the smallest decrease of any part of Manhattan.

Still, the $2,150 median asking rent in Upper Manhattan is the area's cheapest since 2015, according to the report.

The neighborhoods with the biggest drops in median rent prices were concentrated in Lower Manhattan: Nolita, the Lower East Side and Little Italy saw declines of 30, 28 and 27.3 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, some outer-borough neighborhoods failed to drop at all: North Corona, Queens and Marine Park in Brooklyn both saw rents rise by upwards of 16 percent compared to 2020.

According to StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu, the low rents could last into the summer as vaccinated New Yorkers begin to move around and put their apartments up for lease.

"With the weather getting warmer and more people rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated, New Yorkers are starting to feel a sense of normalcy," Wu said. "As this continues, the rate at which apartments come off the market will continue to ramp up."

As the city recovers from the crisis, however, the rental market will likely return to normalcy more quickly than the sales market — and "competition will slowly start to pick up," Wu said.

Read the full StreetEasy report here.