From the March issue: In the past year, New York City renters have come to expect a bevy of incentives, like months of free rent, landlord-paid brokers’ fees, and even — in the case of boutique luxury rental 436 West 20th Street — a butler. Could these perks be disappearing? In recent weeks, brokers have reported that landlords are doing away with concessions, and even increasing rents. “As their vacancies begin to drop, landlords around Manhattan are beginning to test rent increases,” noted Daniel Baum, CEO of the Real Estate Group New York, in a January market report. “Some of the major players, and even a few small outfits, have begun to remove concessions and bump up prices … around $100 to $200 per unit.” [more]

From the February issue: Nothing says progress like Madoff. Late last month, The Real Deal broke the story that the Ponzi schemer’s Upper East Side penthouse finally appears close to a sale.
Listing brokers Anne Corey and Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s
International Realty have told interested agents that there is an
accepted offer on the 133 East 64th Street duplex. At press time, the
U.S. Marshals Service, which seized the property from the disgraced
financier, said the listing had not yet entered contract.
The sale (if it does clear the many obstacles of today’s market) may not be unqualified good news.
The penthouse’s asking price is $8.9 million, following a November
price chop of $1 million. It’s also been sitting on the market since
September.  [more]

From the January issue: Hope springs eternal in the New York City residential market, especially now that 2009 — the worst year in recent memory — is over. “If you survived 2009, you can survive anything,” said Yael Dunayer, an executive vice president at Barak Realty. Like many other brokers, he pointed to strong activity in the second half of last year as an indicator of a possible 2010 recovery. “The last six months of 2009 have been very active and brokers should look forward to riding this trend well into 2010,” Dunayer said. One reason for this optimism is that December — usually one of the slowest months of the year — saw more activity than usual, brokers said. As the holidays approach, New Yorkers — and would-be New Yorkers — usually take a break from real estate shopping, preferring to gift-shop instead. But this year, low prices continued to lure buyers into the marketplace and prompted them to sign on the dotted line much later than usual. “Last year, the brokers didn’t show around the holidays. It’s different this year,” said Marilyn Harra Kaye, president of MLBKaye International Realty. “We even canceled an [office] meeting this month because the brokers were very busy.” Of course, December 2008 was much slower than usual, since it arrived in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse. But brokers said last month was busier than most holiday seasons, thanks in part to the perception that there are deals in the marketplace.

From the July issue: In New York City real estate, unethical behavior is the elephant in the
room: a subject brokers generally avoid. And with the average apartment
selling for more than $1 million even in this down market, it’s hard to
reconcile Manhattan’s power brokers, who have armies of assistants and
star-studded clienteles, with the historically unsavory image of the
stereotypical real estate salesman.
In part, that’s due to the work of organizations like the Real
Estate Board of New York and the Manhattan Association of Realtors,
which have focused intently on training and ethics as the industry has
grown, said Peter Marra, an executive vice president at Brown Harris
Stevens and chairman of the residential ethics committee at REBNY. [more]