Manhattan Rent Hits All-Time High in January – NBC New York (47)

Median rents in Manhattan hit a new record in January, as a strong job market and a tight supply of apartments pushed prices up.

Median rental price increased 15% to $4,097 from the month of the prior year, the highest in January, according to a report from Douglas Elliman y Miller Samuel. Median rent in Manhattan was $5,142, up 13% from January 2022.

Analysts and real estate experts expected rents to will start to fall in january after of record increases at the end of last year. But despite a cooling economy and high-profile layoffs in finance and technology, rent demand in manhattan it’s still going strong.

“We’re not seeing rents drop significantly,” said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Miller Samuel, a real estate research and appraisal firm. “They’re really moving sideways.”

Analysts say the main driver of the Manhattan rental market is a strong job market. While layoffs at big tech companies and Wall Street banks have made headlines, the overall job market and wage growth remain strong in New York. As more workers return to the office, more employees may also return to the city.

New leases in January are up 8% over December and 9% over January 2022, suggesting that while prices are high, renters are still willing to pay them.

At the same time, the inventory of available apartments, while increasing, remains low. The vacancy rate, or the proportion of apartments available for rent, was 2.

He said there is strong demand for high-quality new rentals on the market in prime locations, creating a limited supply of the best apartments. At the same time, more and more potential apartment buyers are choosing to rent while they wait for sales prices to drop.

“They are sitting and waiting on the rentals until the prices come down,” he said. “They don’t want to be the ones buying and overpaying for a property that will be worth less in six months.”

Rental demand is especially high for luxury rentals, as many potential luxury buyers choose to rent. Nearly one in five luxury rentals in January resulted in a bidding war, Miller said.

Analysts say rents are not likely to fall much, if at all, in the coming months unless the economy and job market weaken.

“I think 2023 will be as strong as 2022 as far as the rental market is concerned,” Young said.

5% last month, below the 3% rate that is more typical for Manhattan, Miller said.

Joshua Young, executive vice president and general manager of sales and leasing for Brown Harris Stevens, said rent strength is “a tale of two cities.”

It is article It was originally published in English by Robert Frank for our sister network CNBC.com. For more from CNBC enter here.