New Leases Plummet in the Big Apple

The COVID-19 lockdowns in New York City have caused an exodus of people fleeing the city in search of an escape from the dense urban metropolis. Now, a recent report shows just how badly new property leases have been affected by the crisis.

In a new property report from Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman, new leases in Manhattan between May 2019 and May 2020 dropped by an astounding 62 percent. Similar numbers were observed in Brooklyn and Queens, where the year-over-year change in May showed a decrease of 54 percent and 61 percent, respectively, in new leases.

This decrease in demand has been countered by a surge in available apartments. In Manhattan, the year-over-year change in new available apartments for May has increased by 34 percent, with similar numbers in Brooklyn and Queens. This is a record high for the Miller Samuel report, which started in 2006.

While prices have yet to see any significant drops, analysts predict more aggressive price drops for Manhattan apartments on the horizon as the real estate industry potentially reopens in June or July.