Exclusive | Manhattan rents have reached record highs in the thick of an affordability crisis: New York City is a different league

I want to be part of it, New York, New York — but does that mean it’s easy?According to the latest Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel numbers, it certainly isn’t — at least when it comes to affording rent.Average and median rents once again hit record new highs in Manhattan in November — signaling that affordability in the borough is slipping farther and farther out of reach.Average rent is now at a jaw-dropping $5,686, up 13% from a year ago.In November 2024, average rents were at $5,047.

In October 2025, average rents were at $5,651.Meanwhile, median rent climbed to $4,750, also up 13.1% for $4,200 last November.In October 2025, median rent was roughly $100 cheaper — at $5,651.

And the price per square foot edged toward the once-unthinkable threshold of $100.The previous November, it stood at $86.It’s the latest sign that affordability, already stretched, is reaching a breaking point.But the bigger story, brokers say, is why the numbers are moving so dramatically. Keyan Sanai, one of Douglas Elliman’s top rental agents, points squarely to the city’s Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act, which took full effect in June.

The law bars landlords and listing agents from charging tenants the broker fee if the tenant did not hire them.In practice, the fee is now routinely shifted to landlords — and in turn, folded into the rent.“When you see 13%, you have to take into consideration that with the FARE Act, the rent went up almost 8% overnight,” Sanai said.

“So really we’re looking at a 5% increase.Once again, it’s a way to manipulate numbers.”Sanai describes what happened next as a cascading repricing across the market. A $3,000 Chelsea studio with an elevator and laundry that previously carried a one-month broker fee suddenly rose to $3,400.

But the no-fee luxury rental down the block, which had been $3,600, did not sit still. “Do you think that the luxury unit stayed at the price they were at? Nope.They went up to $4,200,�...