Manhattan Rents Increase For The 26th Straight Month | Bedford NY Homes

[Chart via Elliman.]

Maybe this isn’t new news to you time-wearied renters out there, but it’s official: Manhattan rents haven’t declined in 26 months. The long-running trend of year-over-year increases—which makes landlords grin with glee and tenants grind their teeth in frustration—continued into August, according to the latest rental market report from Douglas Elliman. To be precise, median rents rose 1.8 percent to $3,150 last month. But at least the rent jumps themselves are getting smaller as 2013 progresses, meaning that the market is headed, at some indeterminate point, to a plateau. But that’s not expected to happen in the near future, mostly because tight credit, low inventory, and rising mortgage rates on the sales side are keeping those who might otherwise buy under better conditions in the competitive rental market. “None of these factors is expected to change significantly over the next year, so whether rents are rising (in Brooklyn) or stabilizing [in Manhattan], we don’t expect much relief to tenants over the next year,” says Elliman report author Jonathan Miller. “On the bright side, in what other city can you buy strawberries at 3am?”