Prospect, Crown Heights Rents Reach Record Highs As Pandemic Deals End

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Renters looking for an apartment in Crown and Prospect Heights will pay more this year than they have in at least a decade thanks to a citywide jump in prices, according to a new study.

Median rent prices in both neighborhoods — like many across the city — were the highest in the first quarter of 2022 than they have been since StreetEasy began recording median prices back in 2010, according to data.

The spikes come as deals offered during the pandemic expire, leaving record-high rent prices, low inventory and very few concessions for the rest of the year, according to the report.

"Renters looking to sign a new lease this spring will encounter a competitive market," researchers wrote.

The median rent prices stood at $2,700 in Crown Heights and $3,644 in Prospect Heights in February, the most recent month in StreetEasy's data dashboard. The prices were both more than any month recorded in the past decade, the data shows.

The average median rent for the entire first quarter of 2022 was slightly less for each neighborhood at $2,699 for Crown Heights and $3,412 in Prospect Heights, data shows.

Across Brooklyn, the median rent price for the first quarter of the year stood at $2,800, a nearly 17-percent jump from the year before, researchers said.

On top of the rising prices, the borough also had less apartments available and less landlords offering concessions than the year before.

Only 12 percent of rentals offered a discount so far in 2022, down from 17 percent of rentals in the first quarter of 2021, researchers said. There were 21,863 units available for rent in Brooklyn at the start of 2022, nearly half the 42,055 rentals in the first quarter of 2021, according to the study.

"Renters can take this latest data as a sign to be prepared for their landlords to potentially present them a lease renewal with major increases," Joshua Clark, a senior economist at Zillow, told StreetEasy. "Having a plan for if and when that happens will be integral, whether you're going to accept the increase or make some tradeoffs to find a more affordable space."
Part of the upward trend in pricing is less availability.

You can check out more about the rental report from the first quarter of this year on StreetEasy's website.