Manhattan Rental Market Report - March 2011

Yet another source again saying rents are up YOY

Year-over-year Changes
Non-Doorman Doorman
Change
Studios 11.03% 12.26%
One-bedrooms 7.61% 6.18%
Two-bedrooms 4.86% 5.10%

Its just silly at this point to argue that rents are NOT up YOY. Especially if your tactic is paste one or three or even ten anecdotal listings.

Granted, they are still below the nominal 2007 peak, and adjusted for inflation, about where they were a decade ago.

But the trend is unmistakably up.

I think there is no doubt rents are on their way back up, in Manhattan at least. But even at this rate, and even assuming sale prices stay steady, it will be years before renting stops being a better deal than buying.

Who is arguing that rents are not up YOY?

Curbed has a negative interpretation of the report:

"After a run of decent news at the start of 2011, the rental market is now more like winter than it usually does at this time of year."

http://ny.curbed.com/2011/03/28/manhattans_rental_market_doesnt_think_its_spring_either.php

Not such good news after all.

"...now LOOKING more..."

Does anyone take Curbed as a reasonable analyst of data? I see it as the Faux News of real estate blogs.

it doesn't make sense with the doorman bldg. i live in.. rents increased about 2% and also some rents were lowered..

Though Curbed is simply reaching the same conclusion that TREGNY reached.

"But even at this rate, and even assuming sale prices stay steady, it will be years before renting stops being a better deal than buying."

Sorry, can't help thinking of one SE poster's sharing of his great rental find about two years ago. He argues that renting is more prudent than buying (true). But one could argue that if he gets rent hikes after each lease, he might appreciate why people decide to pay more to buy. Last time that exchange occurred I predicted he'd be getting a sizable rent increase upon renewal. He was convinced rents would stay flat for many years to come. So the fact that rents are undeniable creeping back up again does have a psychological impact. When people opt to rent instead of buy they are betting that rents will stay flat or increase very little over the long haul.

yes lowery, and that poster has conspicuously vanished since prices stabilized and rents have increased.

Juice, seems like a few posters have vanished of late. I don't read much into that, but it is unlike some of them.

Telling isn't it bjw?

Very telling JM...

bjw and JuiceMan: They stepped into a space/time vortex.

Can't argue with your central point Lowery, but it seems to me that property tax increases are outpacing rental increases, at least for now:

"Co-op and condo owners will pay sharply higher property taxes next year, under a preliminary assessment roll released Friday by the Bloomberg administration. The city attributed the rises, due to take effect in July, to higher market values placed on apartment buildings by tax assessors.

Taxes collections are expected to rise by 7.5% for co-op owners, and 9.6% for condo owners across the city, according to a summary report released by the Department of Finance."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959104576082450659330260.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

maly: "Who is arguing that rents are not up YOY?"

Julia, above and elsewhere, for one. inonada on many recent threads. They keep posting about specific anecdotes, trashing Citi habitats as untrustworthy, etc. I am a RENTER so I have bone in this subject other than the truth...but every rental report plus the actual CPI rent and rent-equivalent data all show rents up YOY. So facts are facts.

I agree that the P/R ratios are still way higher than historical norms, so renting is a better deal for most than buying. But I dislike ostriches other than in burgers.

JuiceMan, I think he might be out apartment hunting. He's right about Ninth Avenue and vicinity. I was just there this wknd, and it's a nice place now. I saw a terrific apartment advertised on a telephone pole - a walkup on 48th St. between 10th and 11th for only $2095 a month, called a "beautiful two-bedroom." Back in the day the only apartments on 48th b/w 10th and 11th were railroad flats with bath in kitchen, but this nice ads said it was a beautiful renovated apartment, so ..... maybe it's got two terraces and two full baths and an elevator and a doorman, right? If you see that guy who's been gone, let him know he should check it out. Oh, I forgot.... he forgot when I mentioned that railway cut b/w 10th and 11th because his place was nowhere near it.

oops... meant to say he got angry and offended when I mentioned the railway cut....