As the New York City government actively promotes increasing the supply of housing, in recent years, many communities have seen an increase in housing stock. According to the economic theory of supply and demand, with an increase in housing supply, rents should decrease. However, according to statistical analysis by the housing rental platform StreetEasy, the actual situation in New York City may be more complex. In some communities where rental supply has significantly increased due to the concentration of luxury new developments entering the market, rents have risen instead of dropping, with some areas even experiencing double-digit percentage increases.
Statistics provided by the rental platform StreetEasy for the period from July 2024 to July 2025 show that the Gowanus community in Brooklyn added 392 rental units within a year, a supply growth of 144%, ranking it first in the city. However, rents defied the trend by increasing by 25%, reaching a median of $4,900 per month.
Similarly, the Inwood community in Upper Manhattan saw a similar trend. It added 220 rental units within a year, nearly doubling the supply, yet rents also increased by 43%, reaching $3,200 per month. Other communities such as Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, and Midwood have also seen an increase in rental supply accompanied by rising rents.
Kenny Lee, Chief Economist at StreetEasy, pointed out that many of the new projects in areas like Gowanus are high-end residential projects with full facilities, which have pushed up the median rents. He mentioned that StreetEasy’s data mainly focuses on market-rate housing, and therefore does not fully cover the 25% of affordable housing required to be provided as per regulations. Developers often have to provide a portion of affordable housing based on regulations, which is not fully reflected in the statistics.
Lee told Crain’s media that it may be difficult to reverse the rental increase in the short term, but as inventory continues to increase, the market will gradually cool down. He added that emerging development communities like Gowanus are also experiencing more intense competition, with landlords offering incentives to attract tenants. For example, in July of this year, Gowanus had 59% of rental listings offering incentives (mostly one month free rent), significantly higher than the 13% in July 2024.
Overall, rental prices in New York City remain at a high level. Data from real estate firm Douglas Elliman shows that in July 2025, the median rent in Manhattan rose to $4,700, reaching a new high.
Among the top ten communities tracked by StreetEasy with the fastest supply growth, only the Jamaica community in Queens showed a different trend. With the addition of 244 rental units, a 44% increase, rents decreased by 4% to around $2,900 per month.