Brooklyn has a plethora of luxury properties on the market at record prices.

This is truly the district of kings.

Manhattan is no stranger to rental homes in the five- and even six-figure range, but a neighbor is catching up across the East River. These days, Brooklyn has some record high rental listings.

Take, for example, a $40,000-a-month rent in Brooklyn Heights that was listed for sale by Sandra Cohen of Sotheby’s International Realty just before Thanksgiving. This is a 4,000-square-foot condominium in One Brooklyn Bridge Park that has five bedrooms, a corner living room, and a chef’s kitchen with Gaggenau appliances. Last month, broker Sarah Williams, founder of SOCIETE Real Estate, listed a $36,000 property for sale at 130 Furman St., Brooklyn Heights, with four bedrooms and a private rooftop deck where you can dine al fresco and admire the skyline of Manhattan. Available this June through Compass, the Greenpoint Penthouse at 524 Manhattan Avenue with a three-story living room, multiple outdoor areas, including a landscaped rooftop, costs $30,000.

Market data shows that these are not isolated examples. Brooklyn’s monthly rent of $18,000 or more has indeed risen since 2021, according to a study by Brown Harris Stevens. So far this year — barely two months to 2023 — there have been 13 such offerings on the market, with an average rent of $25,205 per month and an average of $22,000.

“Brooklyn is having its moment under the luxury sun,” said Compass agent David Chang, who lives in the area and specializes in luxury rentals. “It has become a destination for renters moving out of the Lower East Side, the Village and Chelsea and snapping up luxury properties.” At the same time, Chung added, limited inventory drives up rents, with properties being sold at or above market prices.

Rental rates at Magnolia Dumbo, a luxury building on Front Street opened in early 2022, reflect this strong market presence. Jarrod Whitaker, senior vice president of operations at RXR – the building’s developer – said in less than 11 months, all 320 residences were fully leased out for one to two years. “We estimated the rent at $81 per square foot, but ended up with $91,” he said. “That speaks to the viability of the market.”

Sidney Blumstein, a Corcoran broker who has lived in Williamsburg for the past few years, said she personally makes money from the Brooklyn rental market, which she says is “on fire.” And she experienced today’s exorbitant prices for herself.

“My husband and I first rented out our loft on Feb. 1 and are making $24,000 a month,” she said, and StreetEasy shows that the price of the house is one of the highest for a house ever rented in Brooklyn. Spread across a block, 139 Powers Street is a converted warehouse offering 4,200 square feet of indoor space and an additional 2,500 square feet of outdoor space. It sold for $35,000 a month in November, making it the most expensive Brooklyn rental home on the market at the time, according to The Post.

Bloomstein said she’s seen a lot more expensive rental apartments in Brooklyn lately than ever before, and even at different price levels than at the top of the market, those homes still bring in higher amounts of money.

“Property that is re-listed for sale will in some cases be worth twice as much as the last time it was on the market,” she said. “I’m going to list a 2,000-square-foot loft in Clinton Hill that rents out for $4,000 a month, but this time the asking price is $8,000. I have no doubt that it will be rented out.”

Apart from the high end of the market, rental prices in Brooklyn as a whole seem to have peaked.

According to Corcoran, the median rent in Brooklyn was $3,695 in January 2023, up 5% from December and up 23% year-over-year. The median rent was $4,220, up 25% from a year ago. What’s more, January was the 16th consecutive month of rising rents in the area compared to last year.

At another data point, a study by Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel’s latest rental report shows that the median rent in Brooklyn in January was $4,165, the highest since 2008. That’s up 31.7% from a year ago, the highest growth in history for Brooklyn, Miller Samuel President and CEO Jonathan Miller said, and rents are 23.7% higher than before the pandemic.

“Rents are high because mortgage rates are high,” Miller said of today’s interest rate climate amid battling sluggish inflation. “People who are valued above the buy market are moving into the rental market, and that’s why it’s historically high.”

In addition, Miller said that new construction in Brooklyn has been focused on luxury rental buildings, driving up prices. “These buildings are very well-appointed and upscale, which means higher rents,” he said.

StreetEasy economist Kenny Lee agrees. Company research shows the median rent in Brooklyn is $5,148, up 20% from a year ago. “This growth is largely driven by the growth in the number of new luxury properties entering the market last year, which contributed to one in five new top-tier rentals in 2022,” he said.

Examples of these chic developments include Eagle + West in Greenpoint, with a co-working space and even a karaoke stage. Meanwhile, Torre House in Brooklyn Heights has three swimming pools, including one on a rooftop overlooking the city.

Lee said the highest-rent neighborhoods are downtown Brooklyn, Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and that the current rental inventory of 9,446 apartments is 30% below the 2019 inventory average. This number is only 0.1% less than last year. year.

In addition to being able to rent super-luxuries, Lee and other industry experts say Brooklyn has a number of attractive qualities that make it a desirable place to live. Lee points to the greater square footage that real estate in the area offers per dollar compared to real estate in Manhattan. “They give more home office space to hybrid and remote workers,” he said.

Blumstein said the outdoor area that residents get is a big attraction. “There are not so many tall buildings here, and you see more of the sky. You’re still in the city but have a bit of a suburban feel to it,” she added.

From personal experience, Blumstein is also a fan of the sense of community. “Your neighbors in Brooklyn are usually friendly and happy to chat or help if you’re in trouble,” she said. “You are never alone trying to find your own path and there is confidence in that.”