Brooklyn Beats Manhattan for NYC Apartment Rent Increases

(Bloomberg) -- Apartment rents rose the most in more than three years in Brooklyn, where a surge of high-end development is pushing up costs.

With the of landlord concessions subtracted, the median rent in the New York borough climbed 5.9% from a year earlier to $2,914, the biggest gain since February 2016, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report Thursday. It was the seventh straight month with an increase.

Landlords are the winners this year as would-be homebuyers across the city linger in the rental market while waiting for sale prices to decline. Openings at new luxury towers are also pumping up leasing costs in trendy Brooklyn, long viewed as a less-costly alternative to Manhattan. Rents soared almost 17% from a year earlier in new developments, while the increase for existing apartments was 3.9%, according to Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel.

Brooklyn sale prices, meanwhile, continued to reach new highs. The median rose 4.5% in the second quarter from a year earlier to $815,000, setting a record for the seventh time in three years, the firms said in a separate report. The number of purchases fell 4.5%.

Rent increases were lighter in Manhattan, where leasing costs have climbed from a year earlier in every month this year. The median minus concessions rose 4.7% in June to $3,471. In northwest Queens -- Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside -- it was $2,789, up 1.6%.

Landlords also didn’t have to give up as much to fill their apartments. In Brooklyn, the share of new leases with concessions, such as a rent-free month, fell to 38% from 40% a year earlier. In Manhattan, 32% of deals included perks, down from 33%, and the portion in Queens dropped to 36% from 46%.

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