Realtor.com: NYC Rental Market ‘Locked in Place’ as Rents Rise, Turnover Drops

Realtor.com finds New York rental market “locked in place”

Realtor.com releases its Q4 2025 NYC Rental Report and shows New York City’s rental market entering a pronounced "stay‑in‑place" phase, with 89.3% of renters occupying the same unit they held a year earlier—well above the national average of 78.4%. The report finds median asking rent for the city at $3,585 in Q4 2025, a $223 (6.6%) year‑over‑year increase, creating a market where rising asking prices coincide with sharply reduced turnover.

The analysis attributes much of the immobility to rent stabilization, which covers roughly 40% of the city’s rental stock. Stabilized units post a 0.98% vacancy rate in 2023 versus 1.84% for market‑rate units, and show higher levels of overcrowding—13.1% in stabilized units compared with 6.7% in market rentals—suggesting multi‑person households and families are staying put rather than relocating. Realtor.com’s data also indicate long tenures in some neighborhoods, with the Bronx recording a median move‑in year of 2015.

Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale warns that policy moves such as Mayor Mamdani’s proposed rent freeze on stabilized units could deepen the lock‑in effect by reducing turnover and shrinking the pool of leasable apartments. Hale describes the market as “effectively locked in place,” saying lower mobility intensifies competition for the few available listings and could push market‑rate rents higher unless measures to expand supply accompany tenant protections.

Neighborhood snapshots

The borough breakdown underscores uneven pressure: Manhattan posts a median rent of $4,886 (up 7.3% YoY) and shows 84.2% stay‑in‑place, Brooklyn $3,943 (5.0% YoY; 89.5% stay‑in‑place), Queens $3,355 (1.2% YoY; 90.2% stay‑in‑place) and the Bronx $3,094 (4.2% YoY; 93.7% stay‑in‑place). For the city overall, Realtor.com records a six‑year rent change of 24.8%.

Policy signals and outlook

The report, released Feb. 4, 2026, urges policymakers to weigh mobility effects when crafting rent regulations, noting that freezes without supply expansion risk concentrating demand into fewer market‑rate listings and worsening affordability. Realtor.com emphasizes that addressing supply constraints is critical to preventing further escalation in asking rents and availability pressures.