NYC renters had more leverage with landlords in the fourth quarter of 2017 than they’ve had in a long while, a new market report by StreetEasy claims. In their latest report, StreetEasy analyzed rental listings in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan and found that landlords were cutting rents on apartments more so than recent years.
In Manhattan for instance, a little over a third of the rentals had their prices cut, which was the highest percentage since StreetEasy started tracking these records in 2010. Queens and Brooklyn both had 28 percent of its rentals offered up with price cuts, which was the highest in Queens since 2012, and the second highest in Brooklyn.
In Manhattan, neighborhoods like Morningside Heights, Stuyvesant Town, and Lincoln Square were all ideal if renters were looking for big discounts; in Brooklyn the same could be said about some areas around Prospect Park; and parts of Northwest Queens.
Much like Zumper’s rental market report that came out earlier this week, StreetEasy also concluded that rents either remained stagnant or dipped in the three boroughs. In Manhattan they rose just 0.1 percent for a median rent of $3,125 for the fourth quarter; In Brooklyn they rose by 0.4 percent to $2,524, the slowest yet recorded by StreetEasy; and Queens saw a dip of 1.3 percent to $2,066 in the fourth quarter, despite steady increases over the course of 2017. All in all this is the latest study that has reinforced the notion that it’s a good time for renters to look for a place.
“While a flood of new construction has been the main driver of the rental market slowdown we’ve witnessed over the last year, the fourth quarter’s rent cuts are more far-reaching than in years past,” said StreetEasy Senior Economist Grant Long, in a statement.