Results tagged “rentals”

According to a report from Marcus & Millichap, the Real Deal reports the rental apartment vacancy rate will be 4.7% next year, "topping the previous record of 4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003," thanks to "mounting job losses driv[ing] renters from the city." Which may mean more bargaining power for renters—if they want to go where there excess supply is expected, like Long Island City, Midtown West, the Financial District and southeastern Harlem. Further, homeowners who can't sell their homes may opt to rent them out, creating extra inventory. Some other data: The vacancy rate was 2.1% in 2007 and 3.4% in 2008.

The Real Estate Group released its "Manhattan Rental Market Report" today and found that October rents were, as expected, lower: "As we are entering into the historically sluggish fourth quarter, we normally expect to see a seasonal slowdown. In step with these trends, rents are down across the board this month and inventories, which had previously been in a two–month decline, are back up sharply." Overall, the report finds that rents have fallen many unit types--rents have fallen 7.23% in doorman studios since last year (non-doorman studio rents are down almost 2%)-- and though some landlords are offering concessions, "this effort does not seem to be enough to right a market that is being heavily influenced by economic factors, above all being unemployment." More facts and figures here.

As tenants and landlords await to see what the rent hikes for rent-stabilized apartments will be, the NY Times looks at a new breed landlords: Private equity firms that buy buildings with rent-regulated apartments.

The Real Estate Group of New York released its Manhattan Rental Market Report and writes that given the "continued softening" of the rental market and diminished demand, one- and two-bedroom rental prices have dropped, anywhere between 2-5%. However, studio rentals are up (driven by people trading down from bigger spaces to save money, oddly enough) and in the grand scheme of things, given the nutty NYC real estate market, rentals can still ridiculously expensive (see graphic above).