What Happens to Rents?

Rent has to be cheaper than buying or people would just buy.

I can tell u what happened to rents in silicon valley after the bust (judge for yourself if this in any way related to NYC).

- Before .com bust, 1 BR rent was 1800. There were SOOOOO many new H1-B immigrants and people from all over the country dying to work there. And yes, the competition at the time to get an apartment was just as fierce as Manhattan
- 6-9 months later, the same 1BR rents for 900 with landlords begging on their knees.
- look 3-4 years for the 1BR to get back up to 1200.
- Not sure if its back to peak price yet as I haven't been back in a while.

My impression is that most luxury buildings that have been aggressive in rent increases over past few years are cutting by about $200/month for units standing empty now. (It's not a consistent percentage among unit sizes - - lots of things just seem to be asking $200 less lately, compared to earlier in the year.) And/or giving free month's rent, in some cases.