http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aCnxy9pXB7O0 NYC Apartment Rents Fell in November, Vacancies Rose (Update2) By Sharon L. Lynch Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Manhattan apartment rents fell for a fourth consecutive month in November and vacancy rates reached 2 percent for the first time in almost two years as Wall Street’s financial turmoil took a toll on the housing market. Rents... [more]
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aCnxy9pXB7O0
NYC Apartment Rents Fell in November, Vacancies Rose (Update2)
By Sharon L. Lynch
Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Manhattan apartment rents fell for a fourth consecutive month in November and vacancy rates reached 2 percent for the first time in almost two years as Wall Street’s financial turmoil took a toll on the housing market.
Rents dropped 2.2 percent to 4.9 percent across all sizes of apartments, with the biggest drop in the smallest flats. Studios rented for an average of $1,808, down from $1,901 in October, New York-based real estate broker Citi Habitats said today in a report.
Rents are declining as New York City is forecast to lose as many as 165,000 jobs, including 35,000 in the financial industry, as the impact of the credit crisis spreads throughout the economy. Wall Street firms including Merrill Lynch & Co. have produced mortgage-related losses and writedowns of more than $900 billion and are cutting staff as the economy weakens.
“There’s a lot of volatility out there. A lot of people are worried about their personal circumstances,” Citi Habitats President Gary Malin said in an interview. “Everyone is definitively conscious about price.”
SoHo Most Expensive
The city’s most expensive neighborhood remained the Soho/TriBeCa area, with studios renting for an average of $2,395, one bedrooms for $3,637, two bedrooms going for $5,300 and three bedrooms for $7,045.
A three bedroom in Soho/TriBeCa costs almost 20 percent more to rent than on the Upper West Side, the second most expensive neighborhood for that size apartment.
Excluding areas north of 96th Street, the cost of a studio apartment fell the most in West Midtown, with the average declining 10.6 percent to $1,832. One bedrooms dropped the most in Midtown East, where they fell 7.5 percent to $2,621.
Murray Hill had the biggest drop in two-bedroom apartment rents, falling 10.4 percent to $3,225.
The biggest drop in three-bedroom apartments was in the Wall Street/Battery Park City neighborhood, where the average cost dropped 6.1 percent to $5,304.
The least expensive neighborhood south of 96th Street for studio apartments, two- and three-bedroom apartments was the Lower East Side. Studio rents there fell 1 percent to $1,600 a month, two bedrooms declined 3.2 percent to an average of $2,917 and three-bedrooms were little changed at $4,081.
For one-bedroom units south of 96th Street, the least expensive area was the Upper East Side, where prices fell 2.6 percent to $2,228.
More Discounts
Rising vacancies are also prompting some landlords to offer incentives such as a free month’s rent, Malin said.
“If I’m a tenant, I’m certainly going to have more options of apartments to look at,” Malin said. “They are also going to have more options when it comes to pricing.”
Rents are falling in Manhattan as apartment sales also decline and the inventory of unsold properties rises.
Sales fell for the third consecutive quarter and inventory rose by a third even in the three months ended Sept. 30 even as prices continued to extend a five-year streak of gains, New York-based real estate appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report on Oct. 3.
Transactions dropped 24 percent to 2,654 from a year earlier and the number of apartments on the market increased to 7,003. The median price of a condominium and co-op jumped 7.4 percent to $928,263, the second highest on record.
The third-quarter Manhattan property market results were the first to capture sales since Bear Stearns & Co. was forced to sell itself to rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. in March after customers and lenders fled on speculation the company was short of cash.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sharon L. Lynch in New York at sllynch@bloomberg.net
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Response by CrappyMarket
about 17 years ago
Posts: 3
Member since: Dec 2008
“If I’m a tenant, I’m certainly going to have more options of apartments to look at,” Malin said. “They are also going to have more options when it comes to pricing.”
per the President of CitiHabitats.
How come he doesn't mention that the owner pays the broker fee if renting in a non-rental building (i.e. co-op or condo)
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Response by CrappyMarket
about 17 years ago
Posts: 3
Member since: Dec 2008
One bedrooms for $3,637 is a good benchmark ... anyone looking now and considering paying more should bring this article with them. And that is in the most expensive area.
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Response by cccharley
about 17 years ago
Posts: 903
Member since: Sep 2008
The figures didn't differentiate bw doorman and non doorman - big difference in rents there. Still I knew it was falling because I just rented. Rent was at least 15% lower than last year
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Response by julia
about 17 years ago
Posts: 2841
Member since: Feb 2007
cccharley...I didn't find doorman bldgs. much lower..was your 15% price drop thru negotiation with your landlord or was it a different apartment bldg.
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Response by cccharley
about 17 years ago
Posts: 903
Member since: Sep 2008
No I'm moving buildings. I know that my landlord offered no increase this year - I just got my lease renewal - I wouldn't have signed it without asking for a rent decrease actually - but I'm moving so no need. I know at the peak 1 brs here at Windsor Ct were over $3600 a month. Now they are around $3050 or so - probably less because I think they are giving a free month. The new apt, a jr 4, are $3800 here at Windsor so I assume it was similarly priced at Rivergate where I'm going.
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Response by VWear
about 17 years ago
Posts: 111
Member since: Dec 2008
In the new buildings I have not seen a decline but I have seen apartment sitting for longer than usual which of course means they will eventually decline. "Luxury" rental buildings are crazy - they are hardly luxury for most of them unless they've been built in the past 5 years or so.
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Response by VWear
about 17 years ago
Posts: 111
Member since: Dec 2008
For the ones built recently, $4200 to $4400 for a 1BR seems standard and insane at the same time ... when you do the rent vs buy math, these rents for 1BRs almost push you into buy category.
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Response by HotMarket
about 17 years ago
Posts: 1
Member since: Dec 2008
Tight Rental Market Heats Up; Vacancy Rate to 0.8%
Summer Real Estate Guide
By SARAH PORTLOCK
Special to the Sun
June 14, 2007
The summer is astonishingly tough to find an apartment — the market is swarmed with college graduates and new hires looking for their first New York domicile, and landlords respond by setting higher rents to meet increased demand.
In May, the average price of a studio apartment crossed the $2,000 mark for the first time with Manhattan's vacancy rate hovering at 0.8%, according data from one of the city's leading real estate firms, CitiHabitats.
The chief operating officer of CitiHabitats, Gary Malin, said the market works in favor of property owners, and prospective tenants need to think and act fast.
"It's still a landlord's market. It's not like people can take their time," Mr. Malin said. "Landlords are going to push the levels of their rent as high as they can."
An executive vice president with Prudential Douglas Elliman, Tamir Shemesh, said he often works with landlords in the winter to develop 18-month leases so the apartment is available again by June.
"We're anticipating that the market will be stronger in the summer," Mr. Shemesh said. "It will be faster and more money for the landlord."
As of yesterday evening, there were only 301 studios available in all of Manhattan to rent for under $2,000. The least expensive apartment in Manhattan is currently a two-bedroom in Washington Heights for $824 a month, according to citywide leasing data from Prudential Douglas Elliman.
A property manager for Equity Residential, John Costa, said prices in his building have increased nearly 10% since Memorial Day. Last week, the Financial District high-rise he manages leased five apartments and immediately raised the prices of other available units. A studio now costs $3,000 a month this week, up from $2,700 three weeks ago.
"If our occupancy is higher, the rents will be higher," Mr. Costa said.
The trend this summer follows the general theme of low vacancy across Manhattan. The vacancy rate so far this year is 0.8 percent, and it is expected to remain below 2 percent for 2007, the real estate investment services firm Marcus and Millichap announced this week.
But while the market is prime for rental brokers, Mr. Malin said there are still some lingering frustrations — namely, that his agents can't develop the same relationships with clients they like to when the market can cause so much stress.
"Clearly, if the vacancy was a little bit looser I think people would be happier overall. Customers could have more normalcy," he said. "You want to develop this rapport with your client and sometimes this type of market puts a little pressure on that."
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Response by savmav
about 17 years ago
Posts: 7
Member since: Dec 2008
Things I'm looking at are owner pays in condos, but maybe I'm missing a good deal at a lower rent where I would pay? Probably not as I think you have realistic owners and unrealistic owners in this market, and the realistic owners are doing what it takes to get some cash flow out of their property and the unrealistic owners are paired with more aggressive, more tone-deaf brokers.
“If I’m a tenant, I’m certainly going to have more options of apartments to look at,” Malin said. “They are also going to have more options when it comes to pricing.”
per the President of CitiHabitats.
How come he doesn't mention that the owner pays the broker fee if renting in a non-rental building (i.e. co-op or condo)
One bedrooms for $3,637 is a good benchmark ... anyone looking now and considering paying more should bring this article with them. And that is in the most expensive area.
The figures didn't differentiate bw doorman and non doorman - big difference in rents there. Still I knew it was falling because I just rented. Rent was at least 15% lower than last year
cccharley...I didn't find doorman bldgs. much lower..was your 15% price drop thru negotiation with your landlord or was it a different apartment bldg.
No I'm moving buildings. I know that my landlord offered no increase this year - I just got my lease renewal - I wouldn't have signed it without asking for a rent decrease actually - but I'm moving so no need. I know at the peak 1 brs here at Windsor Ct were over $3600 a month. Now they are around $3050 or so - probably less because I think they are giving a free month. The new apt, a jr 4, are $3800 here at Windsor so I assume it was similarly priced at Rivergate where I'm going.
In the new buildings I have not seen a decline but I have seen apartment sitting for longer than usual which of course means they will eventually decline. "Luxury" rental buildings are crazy - they are hardly luxury for most of them unless they've been built in the past 5 years or so.
For the ones built recently, $4200 to $4400 for a 1BR seems standard and insane at the same time ... when you do the rent vs buy math, these rents for 1BRs almost push you into buy category.
Tight Rental Market Heats Up; Vacancy Rate to 0.8%
Summer Real Estate Guide
By SARAH PORTLOCK
Special to the Sun
June 14, 2007
The summer is astonishingly tough to find an apartment — the market is swarmed with college graduates and new hires looking for their first New York domicile, and landlords respond by setting higher rents to meet increased demand.
In May, the average price of a studio apartment crossed the $2,000 mark for the first time with Manhattan's vacancy rate hovering at 0.8%, according data from one of the city's leading real estate firms, CitiHabitats.
The chief operating officer of CitiHabitats, Gary Malin, said the market works in favor of property owners, and prospective tenants need to think and act fast.
"It's still a landlord's market. It's not like people can take their time," Mr. Malin said. "Landlords are going to push the levels of their rent as high as they can."
An executive vice president with Prudential Douglas Elliman, Tamir Shemesh, said he often works with landlords in the winter to develop 18-month leases so the apartment is available again by June.
"We're anticipating that the market will be stronger in the summer," Mr. Shemesh said. "It will be faster and more money for the landlord."
As of yesterday evening, there were only 301 studios available in all of Manhattan to rent for under $2,000. The least expensive apartment in Manhattan is currently a two-bedroom in Washington Heights for $824 a month, according to citywide leasing data from Prudential Douglas Elliman.
A property manager for Equity Residential, John Costa, said prices in his building have increased nearly 10% since Memorial Day. Last week, the Financial District high-rise he manages leased five apartments and immediately raised the prices of other available units. A studio now costs $3,000 a month this week, up from $2,700 three weeks ago.
"If our occupancy is higher, the rents will be higher," Mr. Costa said.
The trend this summer follows the general theme of low vacancy across Manhattan. The vacancy rate so far this year is 0.8 percent, and it is expected to remain below 2 percent for 2007, the real estate investment services firm Marcus and Millichap announced this week.
But while the market is prime for rental brokers, Mr. Malin said there are still some lingering frustrations — namely, that his agents can't develop the same relationships with clients they like to when the market can cause so much stress.
"Clearly, if the vacancy was a little bit looser I think people would be happier overall. Customers could have more normalcy," he said. "You want to develop this rapport with your client and sometimes this type of market puts a little pressure on that."
Things I'm looking at are owner pays in condos, but maybe I'm missing a good deal at a lower rent where I would pay? Probably not as I think you have realistic owners and unrealistic owners in this market, and the realistic owners are doing what it takes to get some cash flow out of their property and the unrealistic owners are paired with more aggressive, more tone-deaf brokers.