Queens Rents Skyrocket While Manhattan's Barely Budge: Study

NEW YORK, NY — Queens saw the nation's largest year-over-year rent increase for a big city in July while prices in notoriously expensive Manhattan barely budged, a new report shows. The average rent in Queens hit $2,342 last month, up 8.3 percent from July 2017 and 7.4 percent from this June, according to the RentCafe report published Wednesday.

That was the biggest spike among large cities in a month when 88 percent of cities saw rents increase because of seasonal demand, the apartment search website says.

One main driver of Queens' increase is a lack of new apartments to keep up with demand, said RentCafe's Adrian Rosenberg. Only about 1,500 units entered the market in 2017, though a "new wave of apartments" is expected by the end of this year, he said.

"With a high occupancy rate — currently running at 99% — Queens desperately needs to speed up apartment construction to keep the rents stable," Rosenberg said in an email.

Manhattan's average rent, on the other hand, rose just 1.7 percent compared to July 2017, marking the third-smallest year-over-year increase among big cities, the report says.

Even the small increase for Manhattan is "noteworthy" following several months of decreases, the report says. The borough's average price is still the highest in the nation and close twice Queens' at $4,119, according to RentCafe.

Brooklyn fell in the middle — July's average rent of $2,801 reflected a 3.9 percent year-over-year increase, the report says.

Queens' and Brooklyn's rents increased at a faster pace than the nation as a whole. The nationwide average rent in July rose 2.8 percent year-over-year to an all-time high of $1,409, the report says.

"Seasonal demand and increased activity are offsetting the wave of new apartments opened this year so far, translating into an even, but moderately strong yearly growth across all apartment sizes," the report reads.

RentCafe figures suggest the city could continue to feel a squeeze on its housing market. The New York metro area has taken in 46,000 new residents in the last year but is expected to add just 19,948 new apartments in 2018, according to a RentCafe report from July.

(Lead image: The Queensboro Bridge is pictured over the East River. Photo by Joe Sohm/Shutterstock