Manhattan’s vacancy rate climbed to 5.1 percent in August, according to Douglas Elliman’s monthly rental report produced by Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants.

It’s the first time Manhattan vacancy has reached this level in the 14 years that Miller Samuel has tracked its rental market, and the fourth consecutive month that the number of uninhabited rentals have set a new record. 

The number of deals with concessions or owners paying the broker fee jumped to 59 percent last month from 36 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile,listing inventory ballooned by 78 percent to 642 apartments for rent last month, up from 360 the year before.

Manhattan saw new leases signed fall 24 percent to 4,990 from 6,544 the previous August. Of the deals that did happen, 54 percent included concessions such as a month of free rent or no broker fees from just 32 percent a year before. Miller said that was the largest share of Manhattan deals with sweeteners in more than a decade.

Listing inventory in the borough also hit a new high for the third month in a row with more than 15,000 apartments for rent. That’s a 166 percent increase over the 5,645 apartments that were on the market in August 2019.

The median rental price fell 7.7 percent year-over-year to $3,161 from $3,423.

(source: therealdeal.com)