NYC Sees Apartments On Market Drop, In Bad Sign For Apartment Hunters

NEW YORK CITY — New York City has a new problem for its beleaguered renters: apartments are disappearing from the market.

The city's rental inventory dropped nearly 3 percent in February to roughly 28,000 available apartments, in the first year-over-year decline since 2022, according to a new StreetEasy study.

Simply put, the housing shortage for renters is getting worse — and just in time for the spring apartment hunting season.

"The drop in inventory — which was widespread across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens — signals a competitive spring rental market and underscores the severe affordability challenges renters face in NYC," the study states.

The study did come with some good news for renters, with a big "only in New York" caveat.

Asking is falling in most of Manhattan, the study found.

The caveat is that February's median rent stood at $4,257, not exactly a deal by any common standard, according to the study.

And Manhattan renters are also increasingly seeing landlords offer concessions, the study found. Nearly 18 percent of rentals offered in February came with at least one month of free rent, according to the study.

"The spread of concessions signals that asking rents in Manhattan will continue to decline this year," the study states.

Rent may soon fall to slightly less astronomical levels in Manhattan, but elsewhere in the city it's on the rise, according to the study.

Queens' median asking rent rose to $2,950- in February, a 13.5 percent year-over-year rise, according to the study.

Likewise, the typical asking rent in Brooklyn rose to $3,330, the study found.

"While elevated rents are weighing on overall renter demand, low vacancies in NYC suggest competition won’t disappear anytime soon," the study states.