For Some Reason, New York's Rent Regulations Don't Seem To Be Keeping Rents Low

New York City has one of the most expensive housing markets in the country among large cities, and maybe even the most expensive by some measures. By contrast to most other parts of the country, the majority of housing units here are rented rather than owner-occupied. Latest data from Zillow.com gives a city-wide average rent (across all apartment sizes and types) of $3650. In Manhattan, according to this New York Post piece from August 12 (citing data from the Corcoran brokerage firm) the average rent has hit $6,655 per month.

According to the politicians in power, the reason for these high rents is that greedy landlords are taking advantage of the tenants. To deal with these greedy landlords, we have had rent regulations in place in various forms since World War II; but after some reforms in the 1990s, by the 2010s those were gradually diminishing in significance. By 2019 a slight majority of the rental apartments, about 1.1 million, were outside the regulation system, with just under 1 million apartments rent-regulated.

Then, in 2019, the State Legislature came under full control of the Democrats (after decades of partial Republican control), and the new majorities immediately set out to put the greedy landlords in their place. The new legislature enacted the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which tightened up the rent regulation regime dramatically. Among significant new provisions applying to the rent-regulated portion of the housing stock were (1) an end to ability to increase rents on vacancy, (2) very low caps on rent increases permitted after major renovations, (3) significant limits on any non-rent fees that could be charged to tenants, and more.

Then in 2026 we got new Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Under the rent laws, the Mayor controls something called the Rent Guidelines Board, which sets the annual increases that can be charged on lease renewals for the rent-regulated apartments. Mamdani made a signature campaign promise that he would impose a rent freeze on the regulated apartments, and upon taking office he appointed new members of the RGB to make that promise happen. In June, the RGB then went ahead and imposed a rent freeze in accordance with Mamdani’s promise.

So surely, these measures have finally brought New York’s high rents into line, and imposed discipline on the rapacious landlords.

Of course, it’s the opposite. For the City as a whole, realtor.com has a Report going through the second quarter of the year (June 30). Excerpts:

In 2026Q2, the median asking rent in New York City registered at $3,707, an increase of $164 (4.6%) compared to a year ago. This marks the highest rent level recorded since our data series began in 2019Q2. . . . Rents increased year over year across all boroughs, led by Manhattan (9.0%), followed by Brooklyn (5.9%), Queens (5.6%) and the Bronx (0.9%).

The New York Post August 12 piece covers the particular situation of Manhattan:

The average price tag for a place to live [in Manhattan] just hit a jaw-dropping $6,655 a month, an all-time high, according to fresh data from Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. That’s a brutal 10% jump from a year ago, and real estate pros are pointing straight at Mayor Mamdani’s incoming rent freeze on stabilized units as one of the culprits, along with a looming pied-a-terre tax that brokers say is only going to squeeze the market harder.

The Post quotes an executive of a major brokerage firm, Gary Malin of the Corcoran Group, as to reasons for the rapid increase:

Gary Malin, chief operating officer of The Corcoran Group, points the finger squarely at Albany and City Hall. “Misguided New York City and State legislation, like ‘good cause’ eviction, the FARE act, and the 2019 rent laws, have in large part created this perfect storm for sky-high rents,” Malin told The Post. “These laws have curtailed the supply of rental housing. This has caused demand to build up to a boiling point and pricing for available apartments to reach all-time highs.

And then there’s the effect of the cap on rent increases that can be requested following major renovations:

Separately, state registration data self-reported by landlords shows about 57,000 rent-stabilized apartments sat empty citywide in 2025, roughly 5.6% of the regulated stock and up from 3.7% a decade earlier. . . . [O]wners say the 2019 rent laws make renovating and re-renting those apartments financially unworkable.

As rents soar in the New York market, readers may wonder what’s going on out there in the other cities that don’t have rent regulations. A site called Zumper put out a National Rent Report on August 25. Overall finding:

The Zumper National Rent Index showed the median one-bedroom rent fell 0.1% year-over-year to $1,515, while two-bedroom rent increased 0.5% to $1,907.

But the average consists of some markets where rents are rising rapidly, and others where there have been significant drops:

Nashville and Memphis experienced some of the steepest one-bedroom declines outside of Texas, both down 10.1% year-over-year. Austin, Houston, and Dallas remain three of the five largest annual decliners nationwide.

Funny how the big declines occur in red states with no rent regulations. Here’s a piece from Austin Culture Map on September 21 (relying on data from Zumper) on the specific situation in Austin — one of the fastest growing cities in the country:

A one-bedroom apartment in Austin had a $1,260 monthly rent price in August, down 16.6 percent since the same time last year. Two-bedroom units were 19.1 percent cheaper than they were a year ago and in 2026 sat at $1,610 per month. . . . "Texas is showing exactly what happens when supply materially outruns demand," [Zumper CEO Sean] Mullahy said. "Austin, Houston and Dallas added enormous amounts of inventory, and renters now have leverage because owners are competing to fill it. That won’t reverse until enough of that supply is absorbed."

Compare that to another city with super-tight rent regulation, San Francisco. From the Zumper national report:

San Francisco one-bedroom rent is up 25.7% year-over-year to $4,300, now just $200 behind New York City’s $4,500, the tightest the gap has been since February 2022.

Or consider even Portland, in deep blue Oregon. They have a notional rent regulation regime, but the cap for rent increases is so high, 9.5%, that it has no real effect. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a piece on the Portland apartment rental market. Excerpt:

The rental market here is so depressed that something almost unthinkable is now commonplace: Six-figure earners are paying some of the same rents as lower-income residents who qualify for subsidized housing.

And the reason given for the depressed prices:

Portland’s rental market stalled out in recent years as an oversupply of new housing collided with an economic slump. It is an astounding turn for a city once known as rapidly growing and notoriously unaffordable.

Well, here in New York, we will never allow that to happen. We’re much too busy teaching our greedy landlords a lesson. Meanwhile, if you want to move to New York, please don’t get the idea that you’ll ever find one of those bargain rent regulated apartments to live in. They are all taken.