Manhattan and Brooklyn rents soar to new records

CRISIS IN NEW YORK CITY HAS HIT

A NEW RECORD. YEAH, IT REALLY

HAS. RENTS IN MANHATTAN AND

BROOKLYN REPORTEDLY SOARED TO

AN ALL TIME HIGH LAST MONTH.

YEAH. GET THESE NEW NUMBERS.

THE MEDIAN RENT IN MANHATTAN

ROSE TO $5,000 A MONTH IN

FEBRUARY. AND IN BROOKLYN, 4296.

THAT'S ACCORDING TO A REPORT

FROM THE CORCORAN GROUP.

EYEWITNESS NEWS REPORTER DARLA

MILES LOOKS INTO THE SURGING

PRICES. SHE'S LIVE IN GOWANUS.

A TOUGH TIME FOR PEOPLE. TOUGH

TIMES. AND, MIKE, I'M GOING TO

TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT YOU

PROBABLY DON'T KNOW HERE IN

GOWANUS. LOOK AT ALL OF THESE

NEW BUILDINGS BEHIND ME.

THERE'S CONSTRUCTION GOING ON

ON EVERY SINGLE CORNER. THIS IS

PART OF A NEW HOUSING BOOM

THAT'S HAPPENING IN BROOKLYN

RIGHT NOW. IT'S THE NEW HOT

SPOT. AND ACCORDING TO THE NEW

REPORT, THAT RENTAL MARKET

REPORT BY THE CORCORAN GROUP,

RENTS ARE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH

NOW IN BROOKLYN. BUT THEN IF

YOU ASK NEW YORKERS, THEY DO

NOT NEED A REPORT TO TELL THEM

THAT RENT IS TOO HIGH. THIS

LEGENDARY CLIP FROM THE 2010

NEW YORK GOVERNOR'S RACE NEVER

GETS OLD. NOT JUST BECAUSE IT'S

HILARIOUS. 16 YEARS LATER, IT'S

STILL TRUE. MORE OF MY FRIENDS

ARE LOOKING INTO BUYING NOW

BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY JUST

ZONING. IT'S JUST MORE

AFFORDABLE IN SOME WAYS TO HAVE

A LOWER MORTGAGE MONTHLY

PAYMENT. THE FEBRUARY 2026 NEW

YORK CITY RENTAL MARKET REPORT,

RELEASED TODAY BY THE CORCORAN

GROUP, SAYS THE MEDIAN MONTHLY

RENT IN MANHATTAN HAS NOW HIT

$5,000. IN BROOKLYN, IT'S

NEARLY $4,300. I CERTAINLY

WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO AFFORD IT.

THE APARTMENT THAT I'M IN, IT'S

A TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT, AND

WITH RENT STABILIZATION, IT'S

ONE PRICE. BUT THE APARTMENT

ABOVE ME SAY IT'S A REGULAR

MARKET RATE. YEAH, YOU'D BE

TALKING 5000. I YOU KNOW, HOW

DO PEOPLE DO IT? JONATHAN

MILLER IS AN EXPERT REAL ESTATE

APPRAISER IN NEW YORK AND

CONNECTICUT. THIS IS BECOMING

THIS SORT OF, YOU KNOW, VICIOUS

CYCLE. YOU KNOW, AFFORDABILITY

IS BEING CHALLENGED NOT ONLY BY

HIGHER MORTGAGE RATES ON THE

PURCHASE MARKET, BUT RISING

PRICES IN THE RENTAL MARKET,

DRIVING THE INCREASE. RENTERS,

ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, ARE

FLOCKING TO GOWANUS, RED HOOK

AND CARROLL GARDENS IN BROOKLYN

BECAUSE OF THE CONSTRUCTION

BOOM OF NEW RENTAL BUILDINGS.

THE NUMBER OF LEASES SIGNED UP

203% FROM LAST YEAR. WE HAD

BEEN IN A WALKUP IN BROOKLYN

FOR FOUR YEARS AND RENT WAS

INCREASING SO MUCH, SO WE

STAYED THERE LONGER THAN WE

PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE. AND THEN

WE MOVED INTO A LUXURY BUILDING

AT THE END OF JUNE 2025, WHICH

WAS A BIG JUMP UP IN RENT FOR

SURE. AND THE REPORT INDICATES

A DECREASE IN RENT IN SOME

BROOKLYN HOTSPOTS, DOWN DOUBLE

DIGITS IN SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG,

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS AND PROSPECT

PARK SOUTH. BUT THOSE NUMBERS

ARE DECEIVING SOME

NEIGHBORHOODS. WE SEE A SMALL

DROP, BUT THAT THAT'S NOT A

FUNCTION OF SOFTENING RENTS.

THAT'S REALLY JUST WHAT HAPPENS

TO BE AVAILABLE THAT GIVEN

MONTH THAT WAS RENTED OUT. SO

INVENTORY, INVENTORY ON THE

MARKET RATE SIDE, AS WELL AS

THE RENT STABILIZED SIDE, LOW

INVENTORY IN EITHER OF THOSE

MARKETS WILL ALSO DRIVE UP

RENTS. AND THAT IS ONE THING

EXPERTS SAY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS

RECORD HIGH MEDIAN RENT FOR

FEBRUARY OF