Brooklyn Rents Soar Up, Up, and Away

By Yehudit Garmaise

At $4,347 this month, the average cost of rent in Brooklyn hit a new high, compared to just one year ago.

Whether apartments are studios, one, two, or three-bedroom apartments, the average rent in Brooklyn has soared 11.9% in the last year. 

As a result of record-high rents citywide, tenants in all the boroughs signed fewer leases: despite the late-summer peak leasing season, according to a new report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. 

In Brooklyn, apartments are also staying on the market an average of 31 days longer than last year, before they’re rented, Gothamist reported.

The report reflects New York City’s deepening affordable housing crisis, in which a third of the city’s households spend more than half of their incomes on rent, according to the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey.

Families who spend more than 30% of their household incomes on rent are considered by the federal government to be “rent-burdened.” 

Another survey found that 35% of New Yorkers are not financially able to meet their basic needs, which include housing, food, and healthcare, according to a report sponsored by the United Way of New York City and the Fund for the City of New York.