The luxury home in Tribeca is being rented privately for $175,000 a month.
Credit: Laura Klein, Bespoke Real Estate
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter by Robert Frank, a weekly guide for high-net-worth investors and consumers. Sign up to receive future editions directly to your inbox.
A surge in wealthy renters is pushing rents in Manhattan to new records, brokers say.
Median rent prices in Manhattan reached an all-time high of $5,000 a month in July, according to the Real Deal Report, written by Jonathan Miller, market director at Street Matrix. Average rent increased 15% from a year ago to $6,306.
Wealthy renters are driving much of the growth. The average price of luxury rental properties (top 10% of the market) has increased 35% in the past year to $17,464 per month, according to the Real Deal Report. Luxury rental properties currently average $121 per square foot.
Renters are usually people who can’t afford to buy yet. In today’s market, ultra-wealthy New Yorkers who have plenty of cash to buy are choosing to rent. With the supply of luxury real estate for sale at record low levels, many people are waiting to rent until they find their dream home. Some fear that resale prices in Manhattan will fall or stay the same, making apartments less attractive as an investment.
“These are people who can easily afford a $20 million, $50 million trophy house,” says Laura Klein of Bespoke Real Estate, who recently brokered a penthouse rental in Chelsea for $177,000 a month. “Inventory is very low, and they don’t want to compromise.”
The luxury home in Tribeca is being rented privately for $175,000 a month.
Credit: Laura Klein, Bespoke Real Estate
Other brokers said New York City’s new pied-a-terre tax on expensive second homes has led many wealthy buyers looking to buy to rent instead.
“The surge in rentals following the pied-a-terre tax announcement suggests that some prospective buyers may already be choosing flexibility over ownership,” said Pam Liebman, president and CEO of The Corcoran Group.
A huge new rental market has been created as wealthy New Yorkers flood the rental market. So far this year, the number of apartments renting for more than $50,000 a month has more than doubled compared to 2025, and the number of apartments renting for more than $100,000 a month has increased sevenfold, according to The Real Deal.
Klein said none of the ultra-luxury rental properties are publicly available and are offered to high-net-worth clients through a small network of luxury brokers. She currently has a $175,000-a-month rental in Tribeca and a $95,000-a-month rental on the Upper East Side.
“A $100,000 monthly income is pretty much normal now,” Klein said. “These are renters who want turnkey, unique, trophy properties.”
Luxury rental property owners don’t need the income, but are opportunistic given the demand, she said.
“They say to me, ‘If the numbers match, we’ll rent it.’ These are properties that, if they were on the market, would fetch tens of millions of dollars,” she said.
