Report shows Brooklyn rent goes up even when it goes down

Brooklyn! Ancient Canarsee for “Land of One Thousand Expensive Apartments.” Please don’t look that up. Anyway, Brooklyn rent was high last year, but did you know it wasn’t as high as it was in 2012? According to a report by MNS Real Estate, that’s the case, with average rents across the borough falling a whole 1.12% from $2,617 in 2012 to $2,587 in 2013. Let’s all have a party.

Actually, let’s scratch that party. Because first, what a ridiculously insignificant drop, and second, rent still jumped up in neighborhoods all across the borough. In Bushwick, for instance, the average rent went from $1,853 per month to $2,005 per month, an 8.2% jump. Two-bedrooms there have dropped from their high of $2,372 per month in September to $2,161 in December, but still, that’s over $2,000 per month for a two-bedroom in Bushwick.

Clinton Hill (-2.3%) and Fort Greene (-4.3%) were two of the only neighborhoods dragging things down for the borough, with Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Greenpoint and Bay Ridge all seeing their rents shooting up over the past year. But don’t worry, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene are still expensive, with two-bedrooms going for $3,067 $3,639 per month on average, respectively. So you still can’t afford to live there.