The median rent of apartments across northwest Queens went up significantly year-over-year in January 2026, while the inventory of available listings plummeted over this same period of time, according to a report by the real estate company Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
The median rent there rose 10.4%, from $3,400 in January 2025 to $3,754 in January 2026. Studios, one-bedroom units, two-bedroom units and three-bedroom units all went up in median rent as well, reflecting the big overall jump.
Listing inventory decreased 16.8% in northwest Queens, from 1,090 in 2025 to 907 in 2026. One contributing factor to this steep drop was a slight decline in new leases, down 0.3%, from 670 last year to 668 this year. The smaller inventory of units led to a larger share of those that were available to have bidding wars. After 20.2% of available units went into bidding wars in January 2025, that percentage increased to 25.7% in January 2026.
Studios had the smallest gains, at 0.9%, from $3,150 in 2025 to $3,177 in 2026. Unlike the overall trends, new lease signings went up among studios. There was an 8.1% boost, from 99 new leases last year to 107 this year.
One-bedroom units saw median rent rise by 4.8%, from $3,431 in 2025 to $3,597 in 2026. New leases also increased among one-bedroom units, at 2.4%, from 336 last year to 344 this year.
Two-bedroom units had the median rent soar 31.5%, from $3,725 in 2025 to $4,900 in 2026. There was a decrease in new leases signed, reflecting the downward trend among all unit types. New leases dropped 2.1%, from 192 last year to 188 this year.
Three-bedroom units had the most significant jump in median rent, at 31.6%, from $4,000 in 2025 to $5,264 in 2026. At the same time, these units also experienced the steepest decline in new leases, at 32.6%, from 43 last year to 29 this year.
