Two reports released Thursday show that while Manhattan rents saw little change in May, the price for Brooklyn apartments went up yet again.
The real estate group MNS said the average Manhattan rent went up 0.76% from $3,832 in May 2013 to $3,861 last month.
Surprisingly, several borough neighborhoods saw a dip in rents between April and May, with the biggest decline in Gramercy where overall rents went from $3,800 to $3,536 during that period.
“This drop in pricing is a reflection of the quick moving rental market in the past month,” the report said. “Higher quality units only stayed on the market for a few days before being snatched up by market-savvy consumers.”
Across the East River, however, rents were a different story, according to MNS.
The average Brooklyn rent price jumped from $2,503 in May 2013 to $2,717 last month, a rise of 8.53%
Bedford-Stuyvesant saw the biggest jump in rents during that period going from $1,744 last year to $2,019 in 2014, a 19.6% increase.
MNS said the neighborhood, along with Boerum Hill and Crown Heights, are becoming the latest Brooklyn areas to see major changes, not only in population but also in real estate.
“Since areas like Williamsburg, DUMBO, and Downtown Brooklyn have high concentrations of high end new development units, urban renewal efforts will expand further and further out,” the report said.
Another report released Thursday by the real estate group Citi Habitats found that apartment hunters looking for a place in Manhattan this summer will have more choices. The vacancy rate for the borough in May was 1.17%, the lowest level since June 2013.
The report said this is the fifth consecutive month of declining vacancy rates.
