NYC Rents Begin To Drop, But Still Ridiculously Expensive: Study

NEW YORK CITY — Good news, New York City renters: the price of apartments is falling, a new study found.

But there's bad news: rents are still massively expensive.

Median rents for one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms in New York City fell 1.3 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, during December, according to a Zumper study.

The study looked at rents across the New York City area and, unsurprising, found that one market is by far the priciest.

"New York City was the most expensive market with one-bedrooms priced at $3,740," the study states.

The price of a two-bedroom in the city stood at $4,340, the study found.

Still, the dip found by Zumper could be a sign that rents are finally falling from record levels, as in higher than $4,000.

Recent numbers from StreetEasy similarly showed a drop in November, which measured asking rents at $3,400 — a dip highlighted in a recent study by city Comptroller Brad Lander. Those numbers showed the first rent fall since May 2022, according to the study.

"Asking rents remain up 16% from pre-pandemic levels, and up 27% from pandemic lows," the study states.

The Zumper study found that one-bedroom and two-bedroom rents were respectively 17.2 percent and 24 percent higher than a year ago.

And for New Yorkers looking to flee the city (but not too far), the rents are a mixed bag.

The second-most expensive market was Hoboken, where one-bedroom and two-bedroom median rents were $2,980 and $4,200, respectively, according to the Zumper study.

The most affordable city was Newark, where rent stood at $1,430, the study found.

Read the full study here.