Apartment inventory in Manhattan has been on the decline for a record two years straight.
The borough’s 24-month streak, documented in StreetEasy’s February market report, marks the longest series of inventory declines recorded in the listing platform’s 20-year history.
A citywide building boom failed to stem to tide of rising demand in Manhattan, leading to relentless rent hikes amid a supply crunch.
The inventory squeeze comes despite a citywide construction boom that delivered a decade-high number of new rental units in 2025. New York City overall added 18,618 new rentals to the market last year, according to the report, but only 2,575, or 14%, arrived in Manhattan.
The meager portions contributed to yet another spike in the borough’s median asking rent, up to $4,700 in February, a record high since last summer.
“New construction is expanding across the city, but the problem is that it has been uneven by borough,” StreetEasy economist Kenny Lee told The Post.
Competition in Manhattan peaked in 2022, Lee said. Companies called workers back to the office and rising interest rates left would-be homebuyers clinging to apartment leases.
“As the demand jumped, supply wasn’t able to catch up,” Lee said. “I think the supply shortages that happened were decades in the making. The inventory declining for 24 consecutive months in Manhattan, I think, is the biggest evidence of that.”
Demand has not quite cooled off from the post-pandemic fever pitch — the average NYC listing in February still received 52.1% more inquiries than in February 2019, according to StreetEasy.
Inquiries are even greater for the city’s scarce two- and three-plus bedroom apartments.
Two-bedrooms citywide received 90.7% more inquiries on average last month than in February 2019, according to StreetEasy. Units with three or more bedrooms received nearly 144% more inquiries. Rents for those supplies have risen in kind.
“I think that can be a really challenging situation for families in New York City, or just renters looking to split costs with roommates,” Lee said.
The problem comes down to construction trends.
More than 60% of new units in the overall city have been studios or one-bedrooms, according to StreetEasy, as developers prioritize young workers seeking quick office commutes over additional bedrooms. The figure rises to 72.1% in Manhattan.
Even in Manhattan’s Financial District, where office-to-residential conversions are a rare beacon of new supply, close to 80% of new units are studios or one-bedrooms.
Family-friendly Brooklyn, on the other hand, saw just under half of its 11,167 newly constructed units in 2025 span two- or three-bedrooms, with strong supplies in neighborhoods like Boerum Hill and Greenpoint.
The tight squeeze in Manhattan is a notable boon for owners of older buildings. In February, the median asking rent for prewar buildings in Manhattan increased by 10.4% year-over-year to $3,975, while rents for post-2010 units stayed static.
Competition from renters squeezed out of Manhattan is spreading to Brooklyn and Queens.
The two boroughs have risen to become the city’s largest rental market combined, thanks to new construction. Long Island City and Jamaica in Queens, and Downtown Brooklyn, are particular standouts. The Bronx, too, is on a building kick. One in five new Bronx rentals last year were new construction, according to StreetEasy, the highest in the city..
The boroughs’ utility as a pressure valve for Manhattan is waning, however, as prices climb.
In Brooklyn and Queens, the median asking rent in February rose 7.2% to $3,750 and 5% to $3,150, respectively.
The slow decline of mortgage rates from recent highs and the slow march of office-to-residential conversions uptown offer glimmers of hope for Manhattan dwellers and beyond, but rental competition still remains 50% higher than in 2019.
“I think there is potential for rent growth to slow, but we just have to see a lot more units,” Lee said. “We still have so much unmet demand from renters across the city.”
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