NYC’s Once Red-Hot Rent Renewal Increases Start Cooling Off: Study

NEW YORK CITY — New York City’s beleaguered renters finally saw a sign that months of feverishly high apartment prices soon could break their way, according to a new study.

Increases on lease renewals in September fell below 2021 levels for the first time this year, an analysis by the apartment rating app openigloo found.

Rents for renewals averaged 5.2 percent for the month, compared to 12.5 percent in August, the study found. They were 7.2 percent in September last year.

The cooled-off September prices, though still an increase, could be a hopeful sign for rents, said Allia Mohamed, the co-founder and CEO of openigloo.

“This is an indication that demand is stabilizing and landlords are preparing for a quieter rental season heading into the winter months,” she said in a statement.

Renewal increases topped 22.5 percent in February, but have dipped — slowly — nearly every month since then, according to openigloo data.

New Yorkers on the apartment hunt also appear to be training their sights on one borough: Brooklyn.

Brooklyn’s rent renewal increases in September were 7 percent compared to 5 percent in Manhattan, the study found.

Some Brooklyn neighborhoods — notably Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and Williamsburg — were among the few in the city that saw double-digit renewal increases, according to the study.

“This could be early indication of increased demand in Brooklyn,” Mohamed said.

Read the full openigloo study here.