These NYC Neighborhoods Will See The Highest Rent Increases, Report Finds

NEW YORK, NY— Maintenance costs continue to outpace rental income in rent-stabilized buildings across the City, creating mounting financial pressure to properly operate, according to the latest Rent Guidelines Board Price Index of Operating Costs report released on Thursday.

Citywide, the proportion of buildings classified as financially distressed, where expenses exceed revenue, stands at 9.2 percent, a slight decline from last year’s 9.3 percent.

Distress concentrates in pre-1974 buildings and properties with high percentages of stabilized units.

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Borough distribution of distressed buildings shows Manhattan accounting for 37.5 percent, the Bronx at 34.5 percent, Brooklyn at 18.4 percent, Queens at 9.2 percent and Staten Island at less than 1 percent.

Net operating income continues to grow citywide, rising 6.2 percent from 2023 to 2024, but growth varies widely by location and building type.

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Staten Island saw the largest increase at 15.1 percent, while the Bronx experienced a slight decline of 0.1 percent.

Midtown Manhattan led the city in neighborhood-level NOI gains at 17.4 percent, followed by Jamaica, Queens at 14 percent, and Brownsville/Ocean Hill at 13.3 percent.

Citywide for all buildings, 61.7 percent of income is absorbed by operating and maintenance expenses.

Buildings with higher proportions of stabilized units face even steeper ratios; pre-1974 buildings with 100 percent stabilized units reach 70.6 percent citywide.

The Legal Aid Society pushed back against claims that rent-stabilized buildings are financially distressed, highlighting new data showing rising property values and profits for landlords.

According to the group, the 2026 Mortgage Survey Report indicates that the average selling price of a rent-stabilized unit increased by 10.5 percent after adjusting for inflation, while buildings containing 100 percent stabilized units rose 20.4 percent citywide.

Legal Aid noted that while the report projects higher maintenance costs, these estimates are subject to change and do not reflect the reality facing tenants.

A recent cost-of-living study from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, reported that housing is the largest expense for New Yorkers without children, and over half of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, with a third spending more than 50 percent.

Legal Aid called on the Rent Guidelines Board to enact a rent freeze to protect more than two million working-class tenants from further increases, displacement and evictions.

However, some small property owners have raised alarms over these trends.

Ann Korchak, president of the Small Property Owners of New York, warned that ignoring these economic realities could push thousands of small rent-stabilized building owners into foreclosure.

“It must reject the political pressure of a Mamdani rent freeze, and instead use its own data-driven analysis to determine rent adjustments,” Korchak said. “If the RGB chooses politics over the math, it will add up to thousands more small rent-stabilized building owners, the backbone of affordable housing, being pushed into foreclosure and abandonment.”

Korchak noted that cumulative one-year rent increases set by the RGB since 2016 totaled about 14.84 percent, dramatically below the 32.44 percent rise in the New York area Consumer Price Index during the same period, yielding a negative 13.29 percent in real-rent change.

Mamdani campaigned on helping tenants gain more control over their housing.

On his first day in office, he attempted to stall the bankruptcy sale of about 5,000 mostly rent-stabilized apartments owned by Pinnacle, aiming to steer the portfolio to buyers preferred by a citywide union of tenants. The court allowed the sale to proceed, and the apartments were sold to Summit Properties last month.

Now, Mamdani’s administration has redirected its focus on the upcoming sale of roughly 850 units across 38 buildings in East Harlem previously owned by Emerald Equity Group.

Officials are weighing strategies to ensure tenants maintain stable rents amid ownership changes.

The Mayor has also appointed six of the nine Rent Guidelines Board members, who are considering a possible rent freeze for the first time since 2021.

A vote on potential increases is expected in June.

Recent rental rip-off hearings have given tenants a platform to report substandard landlord practices, and officials expect to create a comprehensive plan addressing housing affordability in the following months.

What Does This Mean For NYC Renters? Tenants in fully stabilized buildings may benefit from slower rent growth or a potential freeze.Rent increases remain highest in Midtown Manhattan, North Shore Staten Island, and Chelsea. Older buildings with high cost-income ratios may see deferred maintenance if owners cannot cover expenses. Which Neighborhood Will See The Highest Rent Increases? Midtown Manhattan: 7.6 percentNorth Shore, Staten Island: 7.6 percentChelsea, Manhattan: 7.1 percentFinancial District, Manhattan: 6.9 percentWilliamsburg/Greenpoint, Brooklyn: 6.6 percent

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