Average Upper West Side Rent In January Was Nearly $4,700: Study

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — It is not a great time to be looking for a new apartment in New York City, and that includes on the Upper West Side.

Specifically looking at Manhattan, rents are up in every part of the borough from where they were last year, according to a recent study by Corcoran — an American real estate firm.

Overall, Manhattan rents last month were up 24 percent from January 2021, reported the study.

Here's the breakdown for the Upper West Side.

Average Rent

• January 2022: $4,693
• January 2021: $3,945
• YoY increase: 19 percent

Rents on the Upper West Side have gone up slightly less than the overall rent jump in Manhattan.

The increase in rent corresponds with a dropping number of leases getting signed in the neighborhood.

The Upper West Side's vacancy rate dropped from 4.09 percent in January 2021 down to 1.80 percent last month.

There were 359 new leases signed for Upper West Side apartments in January 2022, the second-most of any neighborhood in the borough (trailing only the Upper East Side). However, in January 2021, there were 587 leases signed — 228 more leases than the figure seen last month.

"Median rent held steady at its post-Covid high, driven by upward pricing pressure in the Doorman market," reads the report from Corcoran. "The luxury rental segment continues to outperform the market as a whole. 'Amenities' and 'space' remain the buzzwords for many of today's renters. A full 57% of new Manhattan leases signed in January were in doorman buildings, while the average rent for apartments in this property type climbed a remarkable 41% year-over-year, versus 19% for units in non-doorman buildings. "

Still, remarkably, rents have not fully recovered from their pandemic slump, with median rent for Manhattan's non-doorman buildings remaining 10 percent below their pre-pandemic high.

You can check out the full report for yourself on Corcoran's website.