 Record-high rents and bidding wars leave NYC house hunters scrambling for shelter this summer |
Source |
American Shipper |
Post Date |
07/18/2025 |
|
Daniela Mora spent most of her free time, and a lot ofdough, searching for a June 1 lease.EmmyPark for NY Post
Daniela Mora, a stand-up comedian and content creator,found nothing to laugh about when she began her hunt for a one-bedroom rentalin Manhattan this year.
In order to find a new lease by June 1, Mora? Mayconsisted of scouring StreetEasy at all hours of the night and sping herspare time schlepping across the city to houses.
?he minute [brokers] text you, you have to fly over toQueens or wherever, trying to be the first person in this unit,?Mora, 26, toldThe Post. ?t? kind of like a second full-time job.?
Under pressure to pursue every possible lead, Mora foundherself pushing back professional meetings, canceling workout classes andarriving late to comedy shows. She toured close to 25 apartments, applied totwo and got into a bidding war ?yes, a bidding war ?over one.
And Mora? not alone. New Yorkers on the hunt for a newlease this summer are battling more than just heat waves. Historically highrents, low vacancy rates and agonizing bidding wars ?a phenomenon typicallyreserved for home purchases ?define this year? red-hot summer rental market.
Rent in Manhattan reached an all-time high in June,according to a new report from appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage DouglasElliman. The record-setting prices started unseasonably early this year, as farback as February, and have climbed nearly every month since. The median rentfor a Manhattan one-bedroom in June was a record-breaking $4,625, and new leasesignings well outpaced inventory.
What? more, 25% of Manhattan tenants ultimately paid abovethe landlord? list price, Miller said, a record share of bidding wars forJune. Northwestern Queens, home to prime Astoria, nearly matched Manhattan at24%. Brooklyn outpaced both with a whopping 31.9% of tenants ?nearly one inthree ?facing bidding wars.
New York City? intense summer housing market is nothing new, but this year is special.
Skittish would-be homebuyers, wary of stubbornly highmortgage rates and ongoing economic uncertainty, are, in part, a large driverof the current trs, Jonathan Miller, of Miller Samuel, told The Post.
? would expect more records being set at least in one ofthe next two months, but probably both,?Miller said.
Additionally, the passage of the city? FARE Act in Juneled to an uncomfor spike in rents, The Post reported, as landlords responded to the newban on broker fees by building the cost into rents.
?ew Yorkers are unfortunately discovering the negativeconsequences of the FARE Act in real time,?Brian Hourigan, the managingdirector of BOND New York, told The Post.
Some landlords went so far as to pull their listings frompublic platforms like StreetEasy in June. The increase in off-market listingsdepleted inventory and ratcheted up bidding wars in an already tight market.
Manhattan rental inventory fell by 12.4% from May to June,according to Miller Samuel. Miller linked the tr to landlords adjusting tothe new legislation.
Even before the FARE Act took effect, inventory constraintscost renter Abby Paradise thousands.
The 24-year-old Paradise and her roommate, desiring anupgrade from their Lower East Side pad, had until the of May to find a newhome. The pair quickly learned that finding an affordable two-bedroom inManhattan can be a battle, especially in the summertime when newly mintedgraduates move into town to start their new chapters.
?e could not find anything for the life of us,?Paradise,who works in jewelry sales, told The Post.
For weeks, Paradise spent her after hours and weeksgoing on apartment tours. She estimates she atted at least 30 tours. Planswere canceled and week trips were postponed to accommodate the 15 to 20hours a week Paradise dedicated to the search.
Even with a budget of $4,600, she and her roommate lost outon two different bidding wars, despite offering up a combined $200 above askingprice on both.
The pair split to hunt for one-bedrooms instead, but thedecision came too late for Paradise. She had to ext her Lower East Sidelease and pay a month of two-bedroom rent on her own. The delay cost her anextra $2,000 on top of her typical rent ?even though she only stayed half themonth.
Paradise ultimately found her dream apartment on the UpperEast Side ?an off-market, rent-stabilized one-bedroom ?only after hiring abroker, Olivia Rispoli of BOND New York, and agreeing to sign for the apartmentwhile it was under a complete renovation. The walls still needed to be painted,and new appliances in the bathroom and the kitchen still needed to beinstalled.
The presence of a cat or a guarantor on an application ?oth of which Mora had ?are sometimes all it takes to get rejected by alandlord.Emmy Park for NY Post
Paradise? flexibility paid off.
?onestly, I really didn? expect to have an apartment thatI was obsessed with so soon in my early 20s,?Paradise said. ?ut it hasamazing lighting, an enormous living room and having a dishwasher is awesome.?
Mora only found her perfect match in Kips Bay after hernewly hired broker, Kunal Khemlani of Corcoran, urged her to bid $100 overthe asking rent. She had just lost out on another apartment to a wealthier,pet-less applicant.
Mora, with the help of her broker Kunal Khemlani, found herdream apartment just in time.Emmy Park for NY Post
? was very unwell about that,?Mora said. ?ut my mindsetis that time is money, and I was sping full days looking, researching andapplying.?
She got the apartment. Luckily, the hard-won lease was a?ove and first sight?situation.
? literally shook the other agent? hand [when we toured]and said ?? gonna live here,? Mora said.
|
|
|
|
