Rental competitiveness changed very little in Queens year-over-year during the first two months of 2026.
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Rental competitiveness across Queens remained mostly static through the first two months of 2026, compared to the same time last year, according to a report by the real estate listing site RentCafe.
Rental competitiveness index scores (RCIs) were recorded for the cities in the study based on the number of days apartments were vacant, the percentage of apartments occupied by renters, the number of prospective renters competing for an apartment in the area, the percentage of renters who renewed their leases and the share of new apartments completed recently. Queens received a 66.7 RCI score, which is up 0.9 from last year, but well below this year’s national average of 75.4.
Year-over-year, the share of new supply in Queens went up from 0.71% in 2025 to 0.95% in 2026. The renewal rate rose slightly, from 66.2% last year to 67.1% this year. There was a small drop in occupancy across the borough, from 94.8% last year to 94.5% this year. The number of renters competing for each vacant apartment in Queens rose from four to five over this period. It took 54 days on average for apartments in Queens to be leased, up from 53 days last year.
On a national level, the 75.4 RCI score through the first two months of 2026 is a slight drop from the 75.7 RCI score in 2025. The new supply percentage of apartments fell from 0.75% last year to 0.61% this year. The renewal rate also went down, from 63.1% in 2025 to 62.8% in 2026. The share of occupied apartments decreased from 93.3% last year to 92.7% this year. After each vacant apartment had an average of seven renters competing in 2025, the number dropped to six in 2026. The lone increase was seen for how long it took for apartments to get filled, which was up from 43 days last year to 46 days this year.
One of the largest competitiveness drops was experienced by another New York City borough, Brooklyn. The borough’s RCI score plummeted from 76.2 in 2025 to 69.8 in 2026. The contributing factors over this period of time that led to such a drastic drop included new supply falling from 0.99% to 0.47%, renewal rate going down from 71.7% to 69.3%, occupancy sinking from 95.9% to 94.1%, the number of renters competing per apartment dropping from seven to five and apartments taking much longer to lease, with the average going up from 46 days to 54 days.
Manhattan had the highest RCI score among the New York City boroughs included in the report, at 78.6, which was up from 77.3 last year and ranked 24th among the 139 markets included in the report. However, like with Queens, there was little change year-over-year with Manhattan. New supply fell from 0.25% to 0.11%. The renewal rate rose from 66% to 67.4%. The occupancy rate went up from 95.3% to 95.7%. Six renters were competing for each apartment this year, compared to seven last year. It took 47 days on average for apartments to be leased in 2026, slightly longer than the 45 days in 2025.