New York City Rent Prices Rise While Vacancy Rates Fall

Courtesy of: Anthony Quintano/ Flickr

Apparently, warmer weather coupled with high consumer demand this past June contributed to higher rental prices in New York City. The latest Elliman report shows that the median rental price for Manhattan rose to $3,300 - a 3.3% increase from the same month last year and the highest it has been in more than 5 years. The June vacancy level fell to 1.64% from last period's 1.83%, and is the lowest June level in the 5 years the metric has been tracked.

In sync with the higher demand for rentals, landlords offered fewer concessions in June 2014. The month's data reflects a drop to 2.6% from 3.4% in the same period last year. At the same time, the year-over-year analysis indicates that new rentals fell 12.3% to 4,158. The month-over-month 11.3% median rent increase for luxury apartments accounts for much of the June 2014 warming trend, as the sector accounts for top 10 percent of the market.

The year-over-year monthly price surge in Brooklyn began in January 2014 and it continues. Median rental prices in the area rose 2.3% to $2,800 for June 2014. The number of new rentals increased 62.4% to 669, which indicates that renters are forgoing signing new leases, and opting instead to find more affordable deals elsewhere.

Real estate authority Trulia released its most recent Rent Monitor report, which indicates that the New York Metro area ranks second for areas where rent can cost more than 60% of a renter's paycheck. An April 2014 median rent of $3,450 for a 2-bedroom absorbs 62% of the average local wage in the New York area. The report's April 2014 data shows the same 62% stat for a large share of average local wage for Miami, Florida renters. However, the palm tree state had a median rent of $2,350 for a 2-bedroom unit with a 6.6% year-over-year increase in rents. New York's data reflects a 5.4% increase for the same time period.