In a recent study compiled by the Douglas Elliman appraiser, Jonathan J. Miller, housing prices in Brooklyn are skyrocketing at a rapid rate. And in some instances, Brooklyn apartment rentals have been more costly than their Manhattan counterparts.

Manhattan may still reign supreme as the priciest rental market in the city, but Brooklyn’s rental costs are actually growing at a faster rate.

Last Thursday, Elliman released their monthly rentals report, and as expected, rents increased across the board. Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are seeing greater market competition for studios, one-, and two-bedrooms, which pushed rents higher.

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Rent prices are on the rise again, with the median rent up 4.1 percent ($4,093) compared to last year, writes Curbed. Jonathan Miller, compiler of Elliman Report has found that the prices for smaller apartments are now rising faster than the top of the market. In Manhattan, the median price for studios and one-bedrooms is $2,270 - that’s 11 percent up from last year, the highest point in seven years! Brooklyn and Queens rent rates are also going up, though at a much steadier rate. The real question is: why are smaller apartment rents going up?

Residents of New York City are changing their mindset about the rental industry. “Major U.S. cities are seeing a boost in the number of renters in comparison to homeowners”. There has been increasing demand for rental apartments suggesting that buying may not always be the best option. Mortgage rates are at a historic low, and yet many do not have funds which provides allure for renting.

Zillow calculated the average rents in the nation’s biggest metropolitan markets for 2014, and the NYC area doesn’t even rank in the highest five (pretty not bad for the country's most livable city).  As has been reported previously, California rents topped the list, occupying four out of the top five spots.  Curiously, San Francisco’s average ($1,598), which in previous months had beat out New York’s ($1,228), was actually the second highest — the region with the highest rents was actually San Jose, which was calculated to have an average monthly rent of $1,807.

As always, The Elliman Report released earlier this month provided a wealth of data on the state of the Manhattan real estate market. In many cases, the overall trends were not particularly surprising, with average prices maintaining their upward trajectory and vacancy rates remaining low. Still, when breaking down the numbers by specific neighborhoods, there are some interesting fluctuations from last year’s numbers worth noting.

Well, this bit of news will come as no surprise to those of you who have been following this blog: rents for apartments in Manhattan have risen again, and this trend is expected to continue as summer comes to New York City. The latest rental market report from Douglas Elliman put the median rent of a Manhattan apartment to be at $3,195 per month, which is an increase of 6.5 percent from its value a year ago in April.