Manhattan rents hold. The selection shrinks.

Manhattan’s median asking rent held at $4,995 in September, unchanged from August. For an apartment hunter, that offered only part of the news. StreetEasy’s monthly rental inventory fell 18.6% to 12,736 listings, leaving a smaller advertised selection behind the steady median.

Brooklyn showed a similar contraction in choice: 10,758 rental listings, down 16.2% over the month. Its median asking rent eased 1.3% to $3,945. These figures cover all bedroom counts and describe advertised rents, rather than the amounts agreed in signed leases. Inventory counts listings appearing during the month, not apartments available to tour today.

MM&Co. perspective

A renter’s experience depends on which of those homes fits the search. Bedroom count, neighborhood, condition and lease terms narrow the field; the borough median may hold even as that smaller selection changes. September’s figures describe a steady Manhattan headline and fewer listings in both boroughs. They do not, by themselves, separate seasonal movement from other causes.