Rents PLUMMETING!!

rents are not that down much. Miller found that 1 bedroom rents are holding up quite well.

with contracts down 58% from a year ago and all the shadow inventory on the market rents will not hold up for much longer. This is a renters market and will be for years. Rents will continue to decline steeply.

oh, and by the way, I'm still waiting for evidence of your claim that true 2 ebdroom apts. are renting for under $2,000 in prime Manhattan.

Maybe in crappy old buildings, but rents in new luxury buildings are holding steady.

rents in new luxury buildings are NOT holding steady! They are WAY down and will continue to go much lower.

> rents are not that down much

How come every time the report comes out saying something is down 20%, alpine comes out with "its not down that much".

Putz said it about manhattan median price, and now he's saying it about rents.

I'm still laughing about "SHOW ME JUST ONE EXAMPLE"

"rents in new luxury buildings are NOT holding steady! They are WAY down and will continue to go much lower."

I know... dude is on crack.

I was planning to put down a deposit on an apartment on 109 and Broadway today. It was a cinderblock penthouse built on the roof of a 5-story tenement. 1 bedroom, duplexey, 6th floor walkup, tiny kitchen with modern appliances, semi-crummy renovation/finishes. $2200. I'd been dragging my feet for 3 days trying to decide whether the price was worth it given the current market, 6th floor walkup, uptown location, etc., even though I really liked the place. It has been on the market for 3 weeks and the owner had dropped the price from $2275. I read Miller’s report this morning and decided to make an offer for $2100 – and somebody else got it this morning for the full $2200. Just an anecdote, draw your own conclusions.

1. how do you know what they got it for?
2. please post link

thanks

A 6th floor walk up? Oh man, that sounds like torture.

Wellheythere, I live near that building and i would caution you, as the noise on that block and especially from the playground is extreme and relentless. It might be fine if you have a job or a life that keeps you away from home between the hours of 7.30 and midnight. Or if you have noise-cancelling headphones. I think you dodged a bullet.

2200 is too high for a 6th floor walkup in that part of town. You did well to pass on it.

if people are willing to pay those prices, as they are, then $2200 is NOT too high. You do not set prices anon3. The market does.

how about 1100 sqr ft, 2br 2bath, doorman building, on bway, south of columbia for $2995 (and that is still too high, so says the market, as it still has not rented, down from $4K)

Columbia County:

1) I know they got 2200 for it because I went behind the broker's back and called the owner directly, after digging on acris. They could have been lying to me, but why would they? Also, I spoke to the tenant at the next door apartment (identical), and he told me that he had just re-signed $2200, down from $2400.

2) http://www.hhrealtygroup.com/details.asp?siteid=craigslist&webid=56550

AJC10, thanks for the heads up. I noticed the playground but opted to ignore it. Guess I shouldn't have.

Anon3 & The_President: I also thought 2200 was too high, but I was willing to pay it because I'm a sucker for a terrrace. I guess somebody else was too.

Could someone please describe "way down"?? I just started checking out rents myself and so far you still need to shell out nearly $3K/month just for a decent-sized one bedroom in a nice building in a good neighborhood. Everything in the $2500K or less range is still a major compromise in terms of either location or general yuckiness.

and matt...why oh why are you checking this out?

aren't you the vice president of a 1,700 sq ft one bedroom?

and the member of multiple unions?

and the personal friend of matt lauer?

why are you bothering?

Columbiacounty aren't you the guy who takes a taxi to Equinox gym?

anyone who thinks new lux building rents are "holding steady" is on crack. rents are down >15% year over year easy, and more if you include free months and other incentives. and even with these price cuts, many of the new lux buildings are rapidly accumulating vacant units.

matt: that same decent sized one bedroom would have rented for $4k in 2008 and with your $3k you are going to get 1 or 2 free months and the building will pay any brokers fee that might be involved.

they are going down fast!

muck you have no idea what you're talking about.

All of the GOOD buildings (not those shitty cheap buildings) are all still priced high and have barely come down in prices. But you wouldn't know because they are out of your range and you don't look.

All the good rentals in like Tribeca, SoHo, etc are still high. I'm not talking about POS areas like UES.

"and matt...why oh why are you checking this out?"

So I can be informed.

Even more interesting, CC, is why you're up my ass all the time.

because i think you lie about everything and mislead a lot of people.

you endlessly present your opinions as facts and then make up whatever suits you to confirm your original conjecture.

And *I* think you have a crush on me.

you're always ready to take it there aren't you? you are ridiculous.

studios in doorman bldgs are under $2k...

"studios in doorman bldgs are under $2k..."

That's still twice as much as they should be.

Let's get real here. Studio apartments are for kids. They're not for grown-up professionals in their 30s and older.

Until professionals who make $75,000/year can easily afford a proper one-bedroom rental in this city (and based on the generous multiplier of 40x the monthly rent for income qualification, that puts "affordability" at $1875.00/month), rents are hopelessly and absurdly out of reach for even the UPPER Middle Class.

Im a grown up professional and I just leased a studio for under 1100 (80's UES). Im gonna make it the nicest dorm room ever. I'd rather save and live low while I wait to buy something.

marco...how, where and please let me know who your broker was, or management firm to get a great deal like you did..thanks.

Matt...life would be great if I could get a one bedroom in a doorman bldg...current paying $2495 in a non-doorman bldg, elevator bldg. for a one bedroom (small)

You think that a luxury one-bedroom in a doorman building in a prime Manhattan area should be easily affordable on a $75,000/year income? Why? For many of the industries in Manhattan (finance, asset management, accounting, banking, law) $75k is fairly junior-level income. The mid- to senior administrative assistants, the paralegals, the banking associates with 3 years experience, are around that income level. Once you get to the next step up - associate or VP level at the banks, junior attorneys at the law firms, mid-level accountants, etc., incomes are well over the $100k level.

what rents "should be" is irrelevant to the question of what actual rents are doing...to support or refute the point, one needs data on whats happening to a single or more apartments...we're renewing our lease in a 'luxury building' (2br) right now and they opened with offering to reduce our rent 11%...i have had several discussions with them and its clear they'll reduce our rent by at least 20%, in part, because i have an offer from luxury building in the neighborhood for a larger apartment (3br) for 16% less than our current 2br rent, there are several apts in the building that have been vacant for months and more folks are scheduled to move out soon...I have brokers calling me regularly on condos and coops for rent that are also for sale and they have lowered prices on these units several times....i have rented in NYC since 1996 (13 yrs) and NEVER seen the rental market as favorable as it is now...frankly, I am stunned...just my personal experience, but doubt its unique

sirwinston, how do you time all of it? Presumably you have an end date to your rental and need to be in the new place as you are moving out of the old. How does that work with all of these buildings and especially the condos and more so the coops?

buddy just renewed at 28% less

I got it off craigslist. just search UES range 900 - 1200 and see what you get. Its a coop building, walk up..but for the money I think its just fine. I can high roll during the better times hopefully.

well limitar, not entirely easy, but our current bldg is being quite flexible with the end date...they usually are not...the options are 1) negotiate a move out / move in date that exactly correspond 2) get the current bldg to allow you to move out when the new place available and pay month to month til then or 3) start paying on new place before old lease up, so you pay double for a period of time

there is a fourth option which ive used before, but wouldn't recommend to anyone...keep paying rent on existing apt til ready to leave..the bldg sends nasty letters about lease renewal and threatens eviction, but my understanding is it takes a considerable period to actually do anything, especially if they keep cashing your rent checks, which they did in my case... i wrote "rent paid in full" on the check so that if i ever ended up in court, i could present the cashed checks...nothing like that ever happened and i actually ended up renewing with the bldg

NY real estate laws are quite tenant friendly from what ive been told, tho ive never had any experience with it

im sure others on this thread might be able to write more knowledgeably on the topic

Manhattan will NEVER EVER be affordable.

You can't afford Manhattan now and you never will. Period!!!!

you are a genius...i thought you were on a date with matt. get on with it.

"Manhattan will NEVER EVER be affordable.

You can't afford Manhattan now and you never will. Period!!!!"

you sound like one of the duke brothers at the end of trading places...turn those machines back on!!! turn them back on!!!!!

"anyone who thinks new lux building rents are "holding steady" is on crack. rents are down >15% year over year easy"

I know a 1BR that rented for $4,000 in a newish luxury bldg where rents for 1 BR's on the same line previously rented for $4,800. So yes, rents are down 15% or so.

LOL, Marco.

Morning, Mr. Duke, Morning, Mr. Duke...

Who be puttin they coals out on my floor?

What's the most you would invest in improvements to your rental? I rented cheap in a great building and put a few bucks in but I'm starting to find myself getting carried away.

Rents will revert back to 99 prices, if not lower.

"I know a 1BR that rented for $4,000 in a newish luxury bldg where rents for 1 BR's on the same line previously rented for $4,800. So yes, rents are down 15% or so."

That's hardly a "plummet".

In 2006, you could get a 1-bedroom in a brand-new (not "newish") luxury doorman building in Midtown West (with in-house gym and other amenities) for $3500/month.

are you sure it didn't "just feel like it" to you?

CC, feel THIS.

"I know a 1BR that rented for $4,000 in a newish luxury bldg where rents for 1 BR's on the same line previously rented for $4,800. So yes, rents are down 15% or so."

That's hardly a "plummet". "

Um, that's about 17%. So, yes, it is a plummet!

A far better retort would have been to observe this is one anecdotal observation, which is it. Still, coupled with the experiences of other posters on this board, and what i see listed, I believe rents are down 15-20% and will end up off 20% by the time we are done. Sales prices will end up down by 50% or so! They are already 20% or so down, and we've just started.

Meant to say "rents will end up down 20-25%"...

With a little bit of espianiage on the day they put the rent bills out on Monday, I found that my lease in a less than 3 year old luxury rental building was less than the other 1 beds. I started here in February and so my analysis includes 1 brs on our floor signed before me (most) and after me (a few). Maybe I'm lucky, maybe because I signed in the winter, or maybe rents declined a bit and not too much anymore.