Renter's guide

Why are there fewer apartments on StreetEasy than there used to be?

Two separate changes stacked. StreetEasy has charged agents a daily fee to post rental listings since 2017, and in April 2025 it moved that fee to tiered pricing; ten weeks later the FARE Act shifted the broker fee off tenants and onto whoever hires the broker. Public listing got more expensive at the same moment brokerages had less incentive to post everything, so more units now lease before — or without — ever reaching a public portal. StreetEasy's own count of NYC rental listings was down 10.7% year over year as of May 2026.

Two changes stacked, and the timing gets confused

The most common mistake in coverage of this topic is dating StreetEasy's rental listing fee to 2025. It doesn't. StreetEasy has charged agents a daily fee to post a rental listing since 2017. What actually happened in April 2025 is that the flat fee moved to tiered pricing — $7, $10 or $22 per listing per day, depending on the tier — not that a fee appeared where there hadn't been one.

Ten weeks after that pricing change, the FARE Act took effect on 11 June 2025 and shifted the broker fee off tenants and onto whoever hires the broker (see who pays the broker fee in NYC). Posting publicly got more expensive at almost the same moment a landlord-hired broker had a new reason to skip that cost, and inventory tightened at the same time.

What actually happened to inventory

By StreetEasy's own count, NYC rental listings were down −10.7% year over year as of May 2026. Miller Samuel / Douglas Elliman separately reported Manhattan listing inventory down −39.3% by July 2026, with more than a quarter of Manhattan leases that month closing after a bidding war.

What this means if you're searching

Fewer public listings doesn't mean fewer apartments — it means more of the market moves through brokerages before, or instead of, a public post. A brokerage working a neighborhood directly, rather than only what's posted to portals, sees units that a StreetEasy-only search won't turn up. That's the gap this site exists to describe, not a reason to give up on the search.

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