NYC Rents Make History In March With Skyrocketing Prices: Study

NEW YORK CITY — Rent in Manhattan during March hit the highest level on record for the already-pricey city, a new study found.

Apartments typically cost $4,175, shattering the rent record for the borough set late July of $4,150, the study by Douglas Elliman found.

Brooklyn and Queens were only marginally cheaper, with median rents hovering at or near $3,300, according to the study.

The study’s wallet-slimming findings fed into long-standing concerns by advocates who have been pushing for “Good Cause” eviction legislation during ongoing state budget talks to provide protections for tenants in unregulated apartments.

“These extreme rent increases continue to impact tenants across New York City, displacing many from their homes and communities,” said Judith Goldiner, attorney-in-charge of the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society, in a statement. “So long as we ignore this problem, our housing crisis will only continue to balloon.”

The early spring study bucked a recent trend by other real estate analysts that found rent in New York City has been on a months-long decline.

Compared to March last year, rents in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens were all higher last month, the study found.

Manhattan’s rent was nearly 13 percent higher than last March, while Brooklyn’s and Queens’ stood at 16.4 percent and 15.5 percent over the same period, according to the study.

Brooklyn’s $3,459 typical rent was the second-highest on record, as was Queens’ $3,300, the study found.

But the high prices apparently didn’t stop New Yorkers’ appetite for apartment hunting.

“New lease signing for March were the highest on record,” the study states for Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Read the full Douglas Elliman study here.