If you're hunting for a new rental in New York City, you’re undoubtedly encountering shockingly high rents. Median rents for new leases are rising month after month and have set multiple new records this year.

Low inventory—a consequence of the FARE Act and insufficient levels of new construction—amid high demand is to blame for these nosebleed asking rents.

In August, 37,656 rentals were available across the city, down 8.8 percent from a year ago, wrote Kenny Lee, StreetEasy economist and author of a new NYC sales and rental market report.

Even though rental inventory was up significantly—by 9.4 percent from August 2022, “when the market was at its hottest,” Lee said, “the city still has a large housing deficit to fill due to decades of undersupply.”

There are some bright spots for renters, sort of: Lee’s report identified some NYC neighborhoods that saw declines in median asking rent for leases signed last month.

The top neighborhood, Dumbo, saw a steep year-over-year drop of 8.2 percent, however with a median asking rent of $5,600 that may not feel like much of a deal to many renters. It was a similar story in the third-ranked neighborhood of Battery Park City, where median asking rent declined 5.6 percent to $5,524.

East New York (#2), and Midwood (#4), both in Brooklyn, are better deals: Asking rents declined 7.7 and 4.2 percent, respectively, resulting in median asking rents of $3,000 and $2,683.