Mihai Andritoiu
A rising number of prospective renters are searching for apartments in New York City and the surrounding area, according to search data provided by Apartments.com.
Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, monthly Apartments.com search traffic for apartments in NYC ranged between 4 million and 5 million searches from all users. Over the summer traffic spiked, reaching an all-time high of 7 million searches in August before falling to 6 million in September.
The current average rent in New York City is $2,710, while rent growth has fallen to -2.8% YOY, down from 1.8% YOY at the end of 2019. Concessions have risen sharply, with 36% of NYC apartment buildings offering some kind of deal on rent, up from 17% one year ago. Almost a quarter of the city’s rental properties are offering one or more concessions in excess of one month’s free rent.
Presently, the neighborhood with the most affordable average rent in the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ metro is Downtown Toms River in North Ocean County, New Jersey, with an average rent of $1,202. The most expensive is Central Park West on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at an average rent of $7,625.