Luring Affluent Renters in Manhattan

I have a problem with the word "affluent" in the title of that story.

There IS negotiability in the price of $4,000 one-bedrooms -- your typical renter there would be a young associate at a law firm, since they'd have to be making $160K to qualify without a guarantor. And that person is certainly not poor by my standards.

But in terms of segments of the rental market, the top of the market is white-hot. People with million-dollar incomes (and those are the people I'd call "affluent") are renting rather than buying, and as a result of the strong demand, we're seeing strong pricing on high-end rentals.

There is a glut of inventory in FiDi, and you can get a month's free rent, but I don't want everybody who lives in Chelsea to suddenly think their rents going to fall, because that doesn't appear to be happening.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

front_porch- I have to laugh. For months I have listened to brokers and new owners defend the housing market by saying that Manhattan prices never fall. Now that the obvious has occurred ( and much worse to come ) the same people are starting to fight among each other in saying that their neighborhood is the best and will never see decreases and rents fall.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

"There is a glut of inventory in FiDi, and you can get a month's free rent, but I don't want everybody who lives in Chelsea to suddenly think their rents going to fall, because that doesn't appear to be happening"

Priceless.

dco, front_porch lives in Hell's Kitchen. What is your point now?

JuiceMan- Well quack. My point is now that Manhattan is seeing price reductions people are starting to point fingers and say "not in my area". "The west village is still hot" but the "UWS is slow". No wait "it not the UWS it's the UES". It was said several month's ago Manhattan never sees price declines. Now those declines are in another part of Manhattan and "not in the area I bought". Please stop the nonsense your credibility, by denial of market conditions, is decreasing faster than NYC real estate.

Well, dco, I can't win with you. If I defend a segment of the market that's hot I'm a crazy raging bull and if I point out a segment of the market that's slow then somehow I contradicted something I never said.

A good broker makes money by stepping into the transaction flow. Like anybody, an agent may have bearish or bullish opinions about market direction, but a good agent isn't too invested in her forecasts; you can take a commission in a falling market as easily as in a rising market.

However, for the record: I'm a long-term bull. This city has become massively more desirable to live in since I used to find crack vials (I am not kidding) outside my stoop in Park Slope twenty years.

Short-term, I'm seeing less of a slowdown than most, because I've tended to skew towards the higher-end and "hot" (i.e. Tribeca/SoHo) neighborhoods. We are still seeing lots of foreign demand, and the demand for high-end (i.e. non-cookie-cutter "luxury" rentals) is fantastic. Also, I never got bedazzled by the whole new glass condo trend, so some of the noise in that market has always blown by me. But to say there's no slowdown at all . . . well, I'm not blind. Clearly, days on market are lengthening and transaction volume is down.

For sales overall I am generally seeing reduced volume and flat pricing. Interest rates have been creeping up, which to me means there will be an even greater reduction in volume. But I don't think this is a replay of the bear market of the late 80s and early 90s.

If my view changes I will let you know.

ali r.
{downtown broker, who does indeed live in Midtown West}

Ali - very reasoned.

dco, 15 year old in his mom's basement, questioning front porch's credibility. ya know the front porch who actually works in this business, has written a book about her experiences, and has been a valuable and insightful poster on this board and others for some time now. too funny.