Brooklyn rents hit a record high in July

Rents are rising while concessions are falling in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but the opposite is happening in Queens, according to  Douglas Elliman’s July report on the city’s rental market.

Manhattan’s median rent increased by 5.7 percent year over year to hit $3,595, and Brooklyn’s median rent went up by 1.7 percent to hit $3,000, a new record for the borough.

In Northwest Queens, however, median rents dropped 3.6 percent, compared to last July, to hit $2,915, according to the Elliman report. This was the first time in five months that prices in the borough had dropped.

The amount of new deals with concessions in Manhattan fell from 35 percent to 30.6 percent, while the size of the concession dropped from 1.3 months to 1.1 months. Brooklyn went through a similar trend with the amount of new deals with concessions falling from 41.1 percent to 34.4 percent and the size of concessions falling from 1.6 months to 1.4 months. The market share of concessions in Brooklyn has dropped every month so far this year compared to last year, according to Elliman.

The opposite was once again true in Queens, where the amount of new rental deals with concessions increased from 32.3 percent to 38.9 percent. However, the size of concession did still fall slightly, dropping from 1.3 months to 1.2 months.

The number of new leases rose in all three boroughs compared to last year. In Manhattan, they jumped up by 5.1 percent to hit 6,460; in Brooklyn, they increased by 13 percent to hit 1,759; and in Queens, they rose by 13.3 percent to hit 268.

Listing inventory in Manhattan decreased by 2.2 percent to hit 5,912, while it slipped 0.9 percent in Brooklyn to hit 1,976 and 5.5 percent in Queens to hit 393.

Hal Gavzie, executive manager of leasing at Douglas Elliman, said in a statement that “ongoing uncertainty in the sales market” has helped strengthen the rental market thanks to “potential buyers still camping out with rentals.”

“Prices keep going up, setting a record in Brooklyn this month, and concessions are elevated but falling,” he said, “so it certainly seems like this market strength will continue.”

Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel and author of the report, echoed this sentiment, describing the soft market in Queens as “a bit of an outlier.”

“It’s too early to call that weakness a trend,” he said in a statement, adding that he expects “the overall strength of the rental market will be maintained in the coming months.”