MNS, the Brooklyn real estate firm published their December 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report last week. The report reveals that, with inventory continuing to shrink, rental rates have not eased off in typical winter fashion. In a year-over-year analysis, studios and one-bedrooms in both boroughs saw the greatest increase in rental prices, although Brooklyn rates overall increased by a greater percentage than those in Manhattan.

Some highlights of the report include the following:

• Month to Month Trends: While rental rates typically dip during this time of year, average prices rose an average of 1.82% from November. Studios saw the largest increase this month, up 3.13%. One-bedrooms followed with a 1.34% increase, while two-bedroom rental rates increased 0.98%.
• Booming Borough: Since December 2011, rental rates increased 15.8% for studios, 10.7% for one-bedrooms, and 10.2% for two-bedrooms. Comparatively, rates in Manhattan increased 4.7% for studios, 4.7% for one-bedrooms, and 5.1% for two-bedrooms.
• Unstable Studios: Extremely low studio inventory has caused rental rates for these units to fluctuate a great deal by neighborhood over the past year, as demonstrated by a 22.9% price increase in Bed-Stuy since November. However, these shifting numbers have not affected the stability of overall rates and are not expected to in 2013.

According to the report, the most expensive average rents for one and two bedrooms were in Dumbo, and Williamsburg has the most expensive studio apartments:

In Dumbo, studios were $2,625 (vs $2,650 in November 2012), one bedrooms $4,238 (vs $4,141 November 2012), and two bedrooms $5,100 (vs $4,980 November 2012). The December 2012 mean Brooklyn rental prices for studios ($1,976/mo), one bedroom ($2,556), and two bedrooms ($3,256).

Here are the Dumbo price trends over 13 months for studios, one bedrooms, and two bedrooms:

 [+]

The Brooklyn Rental Market ReportTM is based on a cross-section of data from available listings and priced under $10,000, with ultra-luxury property omitted to obtain a true monthly rental average. Our data is aggregated from the MNS proprietary database and sampled from a specific mid-month point to record current rental rates offered by landlords during that particular month. It is then combined with information from the REBNY Real Estate Listings Source (RLS), OnLine Residential (OLR.com) and R.O.L.E.X. (Real Plus).

The Brooklyn Rental Market Report ™ is published by MNS. The full Brooklyn Rental Market Report ™ by neighborhood (PDF(1.8MB)).

Previously:
{November 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report}
{October 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report}
{September 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report}
{June 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report}
{May 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report}
{April 2012 Brooklyn Rental Market Report}