Subway Tracks

“Numbers to know” is a weekly web feature that catalogues the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. State Senator Daniel Squadron and others protest weekend work on the L train, Downtown rents are the most expensive and hundreds of Manhattan units increased its prices last quarter. [more]

February rental market figures (Courtesy: Miller Samuel)

After four consecutive months of modest rental growth, Manhattan rents are accelerating again, according to a monthly rental market report released today by Douglas Elliman. The average monthly rent for a Manhattan apartment in February was $3,956 — a 4.3 percent increase from January and a 4.9 percent year-over-year increase, the report shows. [more]

Nancy Packes

Despite significant job growth in New York City over the last year, rents have declined in the last few months. A new study claims that the relatively stagnant rents are the result of new tenants’ professions: many have jobs as artists, designers or workers in the city’s growing technology sector, rather than in the high-paying field of finance that has traditionally driven the rental market, the Wall Street Journal reported. [more]

Average rents in Manhattan (courtesy: Citi Habitats)

The Manhattan rental market continues to display a “strange dichotomy,” as Douglas Elliman’s director of rentals Mark Menendez put it, with rents unseasonably strong at the high end, and both renters and landlords believing they can do better in other market segments. In December, the median rent for a Manhattan apartment rose 0.8 percent year-over-year, to $3,150 from $3,125 per month, according to Douglas Elliman’s December rental report, released today. [more]

NYC rental buildings

The high demand for rentals following the recession has driven New York City rents steadily upward over the last several years, but there are now signs that the trend could be slowing down, according to the New York Times. Rents in Manhattan dropped to an average price of $3,368 in November, $76 less than in October. Rental prices have now dropped for three consecutive months, albeit the rental market is always softer in winter months, according to Citi Habitats data cited by the Times. And year-over-year, median rents are only 1.5 percent higher, compared to the 10 percent increase in rents posted two years ago and the 15 percent of three years ago. Inventory has also grown, with 13,618 Manhattan apartments for rent in November, a 21 percent increase over November 2011, according to Streeteasy data cited by the Times. … [more]

Average rents by neighborhood, per Citi Habitats

Sky-high rents in Manhattan and Brooklyn are meeting continued resistance, as the pace of median rent increases slows and an increasing number of renters are choosing to move instead of renewing their leases, reports on November’s rental market show.

In Manhattan, rents, which reached a median of $3,195 in the borough last month, were propelling renters to the sales market, said Jonathan Miller, president of the real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel and author of Douglas Elliman’s November rental report. [more]

From the December issue: In a weird twist, Hurricane Sandy made no measurable impact on November’s office leasing numbers. That’s despite the storm rendering nearly 20 million square feet of office space unusable as of late last month.

Just after the storm hit, brokers worked feverishly to find alternate spaces for their clients, unsure how long they would be out of their offices. But instead of signing new leases, many large companies moved to their firm’s own satellite offices, used spaces borrowed from friendly business associates or clients — or had employees work remotely. [more]

Manhattan

Record-low mortgage rates conspired with high rental prices to push additional tenants out of the market in October, as more and more renters looked to purchase homes, real estate executives told The Real Deal.

Overall vacancy in Manhattan was up to 1.39 percent – the highest it has been since February 2010, according to the October rental market report released today by residential brokerage Citi Habitats. Meanwhile, activity was relatively stagnant, with new rental activity increasing a mere 1.2 percent year-over-year, according to figures from brokerage Prudential Douglas Elliman’s report for the same period. [more]

Real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey and Le Rivage (Le Rivage image c/o CityRealty)

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, several of the city’s largest residential landlords have announced that they are providing comprehensive rent abatements to tenants who lost power or water during the storm.

Both tenants of luxury and more affordable housing may see some relief. Rose Associates, owner of high-end rental properties such as Le Rivage and the Chelsea Landmark, said it will issue abatements for residents of Rose-owned buildings which were under evacuation orders, as well as to those who lost power or water as a result of the storm. Meanwhile, CW Capital, the owner of the East Village’s Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, will do the same. At 2 Gold street, the Financial District building recently deemed uninhabitable, landlord TF Cornerstone has waived November rents. [more]

Central Park’s West Side

Who can afford to live in Manhattan — where the average apartment rented for $3,453 in September?

Lots of people actually, since Manhattan’s average weekly wage is more than $2,600 (though that still may not be enough income to show your landlord that you earn 40 times the monthly rent a year). Outside of Manhattan, the average weekly wage drops to less than $900. [more]