Manhattan rents soared to fresh record in March

Manhattan apartment hunters were already getting slammed with record rents in March ahead of the busy summer rental season, according to fresh data released Thursday.

The median monthly rental price for Manhattan apartments hit a whopping $4,175 last month, according to a joint market report conducted by real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel.

The price marked an increase of 12.8% compared to the same month one year earlier, when the median rental price was $3,700. The number shattered the previous record of $4,150 established last July.

“Landlords are finding that they’re pushing rents and they’re actually getting it,” Jonathan Miller, the president of Miller Samuel, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Rents continued their upward climb despite an increase in listing inventory, which rose 6.3% to 6,366 in the borough last month. The number of new leases swelled 20.5% to 4,863 in March.

In a sign of the market’s competitiveness, the average lease was signed at just a 0.7% discount from its last listing price, according to the report. That was down from an average 5% discount off the listing price in February.

Manhattan apartments stayed on the market for an average of just 39 days in March, down 36.1% from an average of 61 days one year earlier.

The Manhattan apartment rental market is typically at its most competitive in the summer months, meaning fresh records could be just weeks away.

Studio apartments located in Manhattan had a median rental price of $3,190 in March. One-bedroom apartments had a median rental price of $4,150, while two-bedrooms had a median price of $5,680 and three-bedrooms had a median price of $7,000.

In Brooklyn, median rental prices increased 2.7% to $3,493. That was an increase of 16.4% year-over-year.

In Northwest Queens, another market tracked in the report, the median rental price ticked 1.9% higher to $3,300. It was up by 13.9% compared to the same month last year.