After finding it difficult to find a Manhattan rental that fit both their budget and their specifications, it was rather commonplace in the past for New Yorkers to take their apartment hunt to Brooklyn instead. However, these days, a reversal of this trend is happening—recent rental reports suggest that with apartments in Kings County seeing a surge in rents, many apartment hunters are realizing that they may be getting better deals by renting homes in Manhattan itself.
The December rental report for Brooklyn, released by the real estate firm MNS, show that rents for all apartments in the borough, be it the compact studios or the expansive five-bedrooms, have increased significantly from their prior year values. While Brooklyn saw an increase in demand for all kinds of apartments, rents increased the most for one-bedroom apartments, with their prices climbing 8 per cent from their values in the previous year.
After being turned off by the increased rents asked by landlords in Brooklyn, New York City’s apartment hunters were therefore pleasantly surprised to see more affordable options in Manhattan. According to a report in AM New York, with cheaper rentals found in very desirable Manhattan neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, the Financial District and Midtown West, apartment hunters in Brooklyn were only too happy to move into Manhattan instead.
The MNS report also made a mention of the Murray Hill neighborhood as a place to get good rental deals, with the report urging apartment hunters to take advantage of the good prices while they can. Given the low inventory crunch in New York City, such prices aren’t expected to last very long, and New York City apartment hunters need to be quick if they want to get their hands on some choice homes in the city.
