Rents in Brooklyn are at 10-year low and prices have dropped by 10% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021, new data from StreetEasy shows.
The 10% year-on-year decline has left the median asking rent in the borough at $2,390, the lowest since 2011. The decline is the largest the borough has ever experienced, researchers said in a recently released report.
In North Brooklyn, categorized by StreetEasy as Williamsburg and Greenpoint, rents are at the lowest they've been in a decade, with a one-bedroom costing an average of $2,500.
In Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens has seen the most dramatic price drop at 24.2%. However, some neighborhoods, including Brownsville, saw no change in rental prices last quarter.
The report says while asking rents have been consistently dropping throughout the pandemic, drops in the first quarter of 2021 were record-breaking.
In Manhattan, rents dropped by 16.8% year-on-year to $2,700 a month — the cheapest they've been since 2010. And in Queens, average rents dropped below $2,000 to $1,999 for the first time in eight years.
Across the city, landlords are offering free months of rent to lure tenants into units, with 44.2% of Manhattan-based landlords offering the concession. In Brooklyn, that number is 25.4%.
StreetEasy researchers said key to the price drops was the number of rentals on the market. "In the first quarter, rental inventory in Manhattan and Brooklyn was more than twice as high as it was in Q1 2020. And Queens inventory was 97% higher.
StreetEasy economist Nancy Wu said she thought prices could stay low, as rental activity picked up more rapidly in the summer.
"With the weather getting warmer and more people rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated, New Yorkers are starting to feel a sense of normalcy," she said. "As this continues, the rate at which apartments come off the market will continue to ramp up."
She added that renters didn't need to rush to sign a new lease to claim a great deal, as it would take time for prices to rebound.
"But the rentals market does react to economic activity much more quickly than the sales market. As the city continues to recover, competition will slowly start to pick up."
