Apartment vacancies have reached record-high levels as more people want to migrate to rural areas and larger living spaces.
According to a new report from Douglas Elliman, Manhattan, New York, has now reached its highest vacancy rate in nearly 14 years of being tracked – 3.67%.
“The state mandate that prevented real estate brokers to physically show property was removed before the last week of the month, not enough time to have a material influence on market conditions for the month,” the report stated.
Manhattan has also seen the lowest number of June new lease signings in 10 years, dropping by 35.6%, making listing inventory soar to a record 84.7%.
In Brooklyn, listing inventory has also surged by 57.3% as new leases declined for the ninth month in a row to 9.1%, the report said.
“While the decline in new leasing activity remained well below last year, the removal of ‘shelter-in-place’ restrictions in the final week of June that prevented in-person showings, is expected to expand activity,” the report said.
In Queens, New York, new leases declined annually for the eleventh month in a row, sinking by 34.7%, as listing inventory skyrocketed by 40.9%. Here, median rent declined year over year across all bedroom categories, the report said.
To fill these empty apartments, landlords are lowering the cost of rent, with the median cost of rent including concessions falling 6.6% in Manhattan and 5.7% in Queens. Rent actually rose 1% in Brooklyn.
“With the lifting of the lockdown that prevented real estate brokers from doing in-person showings in the last week of the month, there will be greater transparency in the market,” the report continued.
