Frustrated renters pushed out of NYC market as median prices soar: ‘It’s too damn high!’

As if soaring crime, skyrocketing gas prices, and food shortages aren’t enough, residents of New York City are facing record-breaking rent, with the median price of rent in Manhattan hitting an all-time high of $4,000 per month.

Rent jumped a staggering 40% from just one year ago and climbed $300 just since February’s high of $3,700.

“With most landlords following a standard that a renters’ annual income needs to be at least 40 times the rent, those looking for apartments in Manhattan would be expected to earn at [least] $160,000 a year to be considered,” the Daily Mail reports.

According to a report from Elliman, a real estate brokerage firm, and exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail, the eye-popping prices are the result of a surge in competition for housing combined with the cessation by landlords of pandemic-era rent-breaks.


“We have a rental market moving fast without concerns over affordability, and we can expect rent growth to continue increasing over the summer,” said real estate consultant Jonathan Miller, who prepared the report.

It’s an alarming problem that is hitting cities across the nation.

According to Redfin, “the average rent in Austin had shot up to $2,245 in January 2022, a 35 percent spike over the last year, and Realtor.com found Miami’s average rent has shot up to nearly $3,000 in March, a 58 percent increase in the last two years,” Daily Mail writes.

It’s a stark contrast to New York rent while the pandemic was ongoing. When the Big Apple imposed a series of draconian measures to combat COVID-19, New Yorkers packed up and fled the state, and rental prices plummeted. But, says Miller, the vaccine changed all that, and New Yorkers began to return.

https://twitter.com/Skylar_Writer/status/1502786632079994880?s=20&t=lciKGBFoyNy0eKyV-i54LQ

Now, says Miller, fewer people are able to qualify for suburban New York homes, putting more pressure on the already tight housing market.

“More and more people have been pushed into the rental market, bringing up competition and rental prices,” he explained.

On social media, frustrated renters are venting their anger.

On TikTok, one user by the name of Michael described the letter he received notifying him that his landlord was raising his rent by a deal-breaking $1,300.

“The fact that we’re getting an increase of $1,300 pretty much prices us out on principle alone, the user said. “This enrages me because I’ve heard other people’s rent are going up by 50 percent.”

@notsowhitepapi Rents in NYC are skyrocketing and the local Gov has done all of nothing to protect anyone. We need to do something #nyc #nycrent ♬ original sound – Michael

Stephanie Leigh said in another TikTok video that her landlord had raised the rent on her condo by “an absurd amount.”

“This market right now is insane,” she said, noting that in one East Village complex, units were commanding as much as $8,000 a month. “I’ve never seen it like this, and this is my eighth time moving in New York.”

@stephanieleighnyc nyc apt market is insane right now…. #nycapt #leasing ♬ original sound – stephanieleighnyc

According to Zumper senior analyst Jeff Andrews, the rising home prices are driving the surge in rental prices.

“When home prices rise, they tend to drag rents up with them,” he explained. “And that’s because as home prices rise, renters who are on the bubble of being able to buy, they get priced out.”

Melissa Fine

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