Brooklyn Rents Keep Climbing, and Williamsburg Is Feeling It Most

Rents in Brooklyn went up again in September, while the number of apartments on the market fell to its lowest point in years, according to new numbers from real estate firm Corcoran. In Williamsburg, the squeeze is even tighter.

The median asking rent in Brooklyn was $4,300 a month, 5% more than in September last year. In August, it hit a record $4,368. Only 3,428 apartments were listed for rent across the borough at the end of September, 25% fewer than a year ago and the lowest September count since 2022.

City Comptroller Mark Levine shared the report on Thursday. “We desperately need to build more housing, and especially more affordable housing,” he wrote.

In Williamsburg, the number of apartments for rent has fallen faster than in the rest of the borough. Listing data shows 2,043 Williamsburg apartments listed in September 2024. A year later, there were 1,780. This September, there were 1,334. That is about a third fewer in two years.

Rents rose at the same time. The median asking rent in Williamsburg was $4,500 in September 2024, $4,930 in September 2025 and $5,041 this September, up 12% in two years.

Larger apartments, the kind Chasidic families need, went up the most. A three-bedroom apartment rented for about $2,800 to $3,600 a month in 2024. In 2026, it goes for about $3,200 to $4,200, an increase of roughly $500 a month. A four-bedroom apartment went from about $3,300 to $4,200 in 2024 to about $3,800 to $5,000 in 2026, roughly $650 more a month. That is approximately $6,000 more per year for a three-bedroom and $7,800 more per year for a four-bedroom.

The median asking rent for a Williamsburg apartment with three or more bedrooms was $5,800 two years ago. This September, it was $6,990, a jump of about 20%. Two-bedroom apartments rose about 18%, from $4,650 to $5,500. One-bedrooms went from $4,195 to $4,680, about 12% more. Studios barely moved, from $3,800 to $3,950.

Corcoran’s report, which tracks apartments that were actually rented, splits the neighborhood in two. In North Williamsburg, the average rent rose 4% from a year ago, to $5,929. In the area Corcoran calls South Williamsburg, the average was $5,299, about 2% lower than last year. Only 52 leases were signed there in September, down from 64. That number may include newer buildings near the waterfront and not only the Chasidic area.

Greenpoint saw an even bigger jump in family-size apartments. The median asking rent for apartments with three or more bedrooms there went from $5,695 in September 2024 to $7,800 this September, up 37%. Overall, the Greenpoint median rose about 11% in two years, from $4,400 to $4,900, while the number of listings fell from 688 to 576.

Across Brooklyn, the two-year picture shows the same direction. The median asking rent for the whole borough was $3,548 in September 2024, $3,800 a year later and $3,945 now, about 11% higher. The number of listings dropped from 13,421 to 10,758, about 20% fewer. Demand has not slowed. Corcoran said 1,407 leases were signed in Brooklyn in September, the most for any September since 2020.

Rents in southern Brooklyn are much lower, but most are rising there too. In Flatbush, the median asking rent was $2,900 two years ago and $3,199 this September, up about 10%. In Midwood, it went from $2,750 to $2,845, about 3% higher over two years, though it rose 6% in the past year alone. The number of Midwood listings fell from 217 to 176.

Borough Park saw less movement. The median asking rent was $2,600 in September 2024 and dipped to $2,395 last year. This year, a three-bedroom apartment there goes for about $2,750 to $3,800, and a four-bedroom for about $4,500. But very few apartments in Borough Park are listed right now, only 44 last month, so the numbers can swing from month to month.

Corcoran’s figures for the south of the borough show the average rent at $3,238 in September, about 1% lower than a year ago.