Exclusive | Manhattan rents reach all-time high of $6,655/month amid Mamdanis rent freeze and pied-a-terre tax threat

Manhattan renters, brace yourselves.The average price tag for a place to live just hit a jaw-dropping $6,655 a month, an all-time high, according to fresh data from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.That’s a brutal 10% jump from a year ago, and real estate pros are pointing straight at Mayor Mamdani’s incoming rent freeze on stabilized units as one of the culprits, along with a looming pied-a-terre tax that brokers say is only going to squeeze the market harder.

The pain is compounded by a record-low number of vacant apartments across the city, leaving desperate renters with almost nowhere to turn.The median rent, meanwhile, sits at $5,295, up 6% from last July, though it held flat month over month after climbing 3% in both June and July from May’s previous record of $5,125.Every size apartment is getting hit, with average prices up double digits for two- and three-bedrooms.Studios now average $4,088 (up 8%), one-bedrooms are at $5,486 (up 7%), two-bedrooms have soared to $8,054 (up 13%) and three-bedrooms are averaging a staggering $12,228 (up 12%), all year-over-year.

Studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms have all hit all-time highs.New York’s rental vacancy rate has cratered to just 1.49%, the tightest it’s been since 1968, and down from 1.57% previously.Experts consider anything under 5% a landlord’s market.

This is far worse than that.Separately, state registration data self-reported by landlords shows about 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments sat empty citywide in 2025, roughly 5.6% of the regulated stock and up from 3.7% a decade earlier.Tenant advocates argue landlords are warehousing units rather than renting them at capped rates, while owners say the 2019 rent laws make renovating and re-renting those apartments financially unworkable.Gary Malin, chief operating officer of The Corcoran Group, points the finger squarely at Albany and City Hall.“Misguided New York City and State legislation, like ‘good cause’ eviction, the FARE act, and ...