In northwest Queens, the number of new lease signings surged to their second-highest level since 2008 when tracking began, according to a new report by Douglas Elliman.
In August, 549 new leases were signed, following a trend that began last fall, which helped reduce excess supply. The number of new leases was up nearly 158% from last year.
As a result, the report found that net effective median rent slipped almost 2% year-over-year, from $2,622 to $2,571.
New lease signings in Manhattan and Brooklyn also rose to their highest for an August in at least 13 years.
The average rental price in the borough went down from $3,073 to $2,960 from July to August, a decrease of nearly 4%.
Landlord concessions averaged two months of equivalent rent — the lowest total in a year — but still well above the 1.1% monthly average for August over the past decade.
The market share of apartments with landlord concessions fell by nearly a third in the current month since peaking late last fall, from 66.1% in November to 38.6% in August.
As tenants continue to secure longer-term leases to preserve rental price savings, the market share of two-year leases was up at nearly 70% compared to the February low of neatly 14 percent.
Listing inventory fell by nearly 80% to 1,010, from its January peak of 5,977.
Average studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental prices are down by 4.9%, 2.2% and 0.5%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis, while three-bedroom rental price is up 18.3%, according to the report.
