NYC rent rollercoaster hits new record highs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens

Deputy Mayor on NYC's affordable housing crisis

A lack of affordable housing is one of the biggest issues facing New York City, and now Mayor Adams is hoping to turn things around with an ambitious plan to build 500,000 homes over the next decade. FOX 5 NY's Morgan McKay sat down with the city's Deputy Mayor to talk about how the administration is tackling the housing crisis.

NEW YORK - Stop us if you've heard this one before: Rents across New York City have soared to record highs, according to a new report.

The city's ongoing affordability crisis has reached a new level, according to the latest analysis by the Elliman Report.

In Manhattan, Brooklyn, and northwest Queens, median rents have vaulted to record-smashing highs.

Manhattan median rents are now $4,230, up from $4,095 this time last year and 20.9% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Even with concessions, the median rental price is $4,198, with the borough's vacancy rate standing at just 2.49%.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that the median rental price of a Manhattan studio is down 1% from last month, to a mere $3,100.

Brooklyn isn't giving any breaks either, with the median rent standing stubbornly high at $3,499, 2.9% more than in February of 2023. Prices are still a whopping 20.9% higher than they were before the pandemic.

Finally, in Northwest Queens, median rent prices are roughly unchanged from last year but up 1.2% from January 2024, to $3.239, still 11.7% higher than before the pandemic.

The prices fit neatly with a recent report showing that renters have less than a 1% chance of finding an apartment that costs under $2,400 a month in the city, with the city's overall vacancy rate reaching a historic low of 1.4%.

The Adams administration has created a new goal to build 500,000 new homes over the next decade, but a series of complications in Albany have prevented any significant progress.