Market Data Market Reports

November 2020 Market Reports: NYC Rent Declines Surpass Those of the Great Recession

By Emily McDonald December 16, 2020

New York City rents have fallen more this year than they did during the Great Recession, according to StreetEasy’s November 2020 Market Reports.

Driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, Manhattan rents dropped the most out of the three boroughs analyzed — falling a whopping 12.7% year over year [i]. In November 2020, the median asking rent in Manhattan reached a 10-year low of $2,800. During the Great Recession, Manhattan rents decreased by about 10%.

In Brooklyn, rents dropped 6.3% year over year, and the median asking rent was $2,400. After the 2008 financial crisis, rents in Brooklyn fell by around 5%.

Meanwhile, Queens saw a 5.7% annual decline in rents in November. This was a record large drop for the borough, where rents remained relatively stable during the Great Recession. The median asking rent in November was $2,100.

Prior to the pandemic, NYC rents had been steadily rising for about a decade. But the economic fallout from Covid-19 has taken a severe toll on the market. Our recent 2021 predictions report noted that a weak economy results in a weak rentals market, which is reflected in the latest data.

Chinatown

28 Mott Street

$2,100 No Fee

1 |

1

Washington Heights

518 West 161st Street

$2,300 No Fee

1 |

1

Lenox Hill

349 East 61st Street

$2,400 No Fee

1 |

1

Central Harlem

102 West 134th Street

$1,960 No Fee

1 |

1

Washington Heights

467 West 164th Street

$2,056 No Fee

2 |

1

Hell’s Kitchen

543 West 49th Street

$2,500 No Fee

1 |

1

Fort George

558 West 193rd Street

$2,400 No Fee

1 |

1

Lenox Hill

428 East 66th Street

$2,385 No Fee

1 |

1

Chinatown

102 Mott Street

$2,450 No Fee

1 |

1

Washington Heights

128 Fort Washington Avenue

$2,186 No Fee

1 |

1

Chinatown

73 Mott Street

$2,200 No Fee

1 |

1

Hamilton Heights

536 West 143rd Street

$2,095 No Fee

2 |

1

While rents plummeted, rental inventory continued to pile on. In November, there were more than double the number of rental units available than at the same time last year in New York City — a net increase of nearly 37,000 homes.

“We expected the rental market to match the weakness seen during the Great Recession, but the fact that the market has surpassed that level in less than one year shows how serious the crisis caused by the pandemic has been,” said StreetEasy Economist Nancy Wu.

“The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and plenty of great rental deals will be the catalyst for many to return to the city, but we’re still a long way from the city’s return to normal. Until that happens, inventory will remain high and renters will continue to enjoy deals that were unheard of a year ago.”

1 in 3 Midtown Manhattan Rentals Were Discounted in November

The share of apartments that had a rent cut in November increased in all five submarkets in Manhattan, but Midtown [ii] led the way, with 30.7% of landlords discounting the monthly rent on their units. That was an increase of 8.4 percentage points from last year. Boroughwide, the share of rent cuts rose by 5.9 percentage points year over year, to 27.2% in Manhattan.

Brooklyn Rents Fell Furthest in the Most Expensive Neighborhoods

The median asking rent in Northwest Brooklyn [iii], the borough’s most expensive submarket, was $2,800 — the lowest it’s been in eight years. Compared to last year, rents were down 5.1% in this area, which includes Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo. There were 21,670 rentals on the market in Brooklyn in November, an increase of 134% from last year.

Crown Heights

461 Saint Mark’s Avenue

$2,500 No Fee

1 |

1

Cypress Hills

245 Sunnyside Avenue

$2,200 No Fee

1 |

1

Greenwood

699 Fourth Avenue

$2,400 No Fee

1 |

1

Flatbush

3022 Clarendon Road

$2,250 No Fee

1 |

1

Ditmas Park

855 Ocean Avenue

$2,350 No Fee

1 |

1

Bay Ridge

8301 Fourth Avenue

$1,800 No Fee

1 |

1

Bushwick

295 Irving Avenue

$2,100 No Fee

1 |

1

Weeksville

1561 Sterling Place

$1,800 No Fee

1 |

1

Kensington

252 East 7th Street

$2,200 No Fee

1 |

1

Crown Heights

1188 Sterling Place

$2,500 No Fee

1 |

1.5

Fort Greene

125 South Oxford Street

$2,500 No Fee

1 |

1

Ditmas Park

1608 Avenue H

$2,400 No Fee

2 |

1

Queens Saw the Slowest Growth in Rental Inventory

Rental inventory across the borough was 75% higher than last year in Queens. While this was a sharp increase, it was the smallest of all boroughs analyzed. Queens’ population tends to be more stable and less transient, which is why housing metrics do not fluctuate as much as in other boroughs. Mirroring the rest of the city, Queens rents did fall year over year, but at the slowest rate in the city, at 5.7%.

View all StreetEasy Market Reports for Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, with additional neighborhood data and graphics. Definitions of StreetEasy’s metrics and monthly data from each report can be explored and downloaded via the StreetEasy Data Dashboard.

[i] The StreetEasy Rent Indices are monthly indices that track changes in rent for all housing types and are currently available from January 2007 in Manhattan, January 2010 in Brooklyn, and January 2012 in Queens. Each index uses a repeat-sales method similar that used to calculate the StreetEasy Price Indices. The repeat method evaluates rental price growth based on homes in a given geography that have listed for rent more than once. More details on methodology here.

[ii] The Midtown submarket includes Roosevelt Island, Midtown, Central Park South, Midtown South, Midtown East, Midtown West, Murray Hill, Sutton Place, Turtle Bay, Kips Bay, Beekman, Hudson Yards, Hell’s Kitchen.

[iii] The Northwest Brooklyn submarket includes Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Dumbo, Vinegar Hill, Red Hook, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Columbia St. Waterfront District, Clinton Hill.

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