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Back-to-school season will be different this year. The summer is traditionally the time of year people look to move ? it?s back-to-school season even if you aren?t in school yourself and haven?t been for years. And even though many leases turn over, rents tend to be higher because of the demand. But the pandemic has upended this seasonal pattern, with lots of turnover but fewer takers, which means if you?re searching for an apartment in Manhattan, you may pleasantly surprised by the options.
According to StreetEasy, Manhattan posted a 3.1 percent drop in rent as of July, the largest year-over-year drop since the Great Recession, when rent fell almost 10 percent. UrbanDigs, a data analytics provider, showed median rents dropping 6 percent compared to last year. And they don?t think this drop will end anytime soon. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();

?We would not be surprised to see NYC rents fall by at least this much, if not more, by March 2021, one year into the pandemic,? wrote Nancy Wu, an economist with StreetEasy. ?The economic impact of the pandemic is already w...