Despite the seasonal cooling of the residential rental market come the winter months, Manhattan rents barely flinched, according to a Manhattan rental market report released today by MNS, as prices dropped just 0.2 percent in November compared to the prior month. The rental market in Brooklyn showed similar strength, according to another of the brokerage’s report.

Rents for two-bedroom Manhattan apartments actually increased by about 0.4 percent to an average of $5,500 per month. Meanwhile, rents for studios and one-bedrooms stumbled just 0.47 percent and 0.73 percent, respectively. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Source: Prudential Douglas Elliman (click to enlarge)

In stark contrast from the various economic indicators surrounding it, the
Manhattan rental market showed remarkable stability and strength in the third
quarter. The price of an average Manhattan rental unit increased about 7 percent
from the prior year quarter and remained consistent with the impressive levels
achieved in the second quarter, according to market reports released today by
residential brokerages Prudential Douglas Elliman and Citi Habitats.

“I used to see the rental market as a leading indicator of changing economic
conditions because of how nimble it is,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal firm
Miller Samuel who prepared Elliman’s report. “But here the economy is struggling –
or at best, is flat — and conditions are tight in the rental market.” [more]

Platinum Properties President Daniel Hedaya

Of late, all real estate market news that comes out the Financial District is good news. The latest neighborhood market report, recently released by residential brokerage Platinum Properties, confirms that is true for the rental market, too.

In the fist half of 2011, the average price for all leased apartments pushed past $50 per square foot for the first time since the brokerage began tracking the market in 2007, and vacancy rates were at an all time low of 1.47 percent. At the end of 2010, the vacancy rate was 2.17 percent. – Adam Fusfeld
[more]

Source: Citi Habitats (click chart to enlarge)

This August, renters finally got some relief from the sweltering summer market, according to
a Manhattan rental market report released today by Citi Habitats. The average rent declined
1 percent from July to $3,350 and the vacancy rate rose to 1 percent, its highest level since
February. Both retreated from near-record strong rates in June and July.

But the market is still tilted heavily in landlords’ favor as rents were up 8 percent from a year
ago and concessions were present in just 4 percent of Citi Habitats’ brokered transactions.

“While the market’s still competitive, those in search of rental housing should have an easier
time securing a home,” said Gary Malin, the firm’s president. “Conditions earlier this summer
were brutal and the market was due for a correction.” [more]

Chart shows average rents among unit types from 2006-2010

The Manhattan residential rental market tanked as suddenly and swiftly as the national economy in 2008, but the country’s stumbling recovery has catapulted that rental market to previous heights, according to a five-year study of rents released today by Citi Habitats (see below).

Average monthly rents of transactions brokered by the city’s largest rental firm below 96th Street in Manhattan sat at $3,724 in 2007 before plummeting to $3,399 in 2009 during the depths of the recession. In June 2011, that figure rose to $3,694 per month, close to the 2007 figure.

“[There's] an increased interest in rental property from those taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the unstable sales market,” Citi Habitats President Gary Malin said. He noted that buyers who would normally make luxury apartment purchases, in particular, are opting for the rental market because of “continued sales market insecurity.”

This pattern is also reflected in vacancy rates, landlord concessions and the percentage of new developments to turn rental for apartments below 96th Street.

Vacancy rates rose to 1.93 percent in 2009 from 0.76 percent in 2006. In June 2011, the rate was 0.69 percent. Similarly, in December 2009, 60 percent of transactions included some owner concession. By October 2010 that number was reduced to 18 percent and as of July 2011 it was just 7 percent. While the number of new rental units brought to the market slowly declined to 2,198 in 2008 from 2,989 in 2006, the number spiked to 3,966 in 2009 before dropping down to 2,280 in 2010.

Throughout the five-year period the Upper East and Upper West sides were consistently the least expensive neighborhoods, while Soho and Tribeca were the costliest.

Big units in Murray Hill and across both sides of Midtown saw the biggest price drops in average rent from 2006 to 2010, as three-bedroom units that in 2006 went for between $4,700 and $6,300 per month on average, dropped to the $3,300-to-$3,700 range in 2010. The Gramercy-Flatiron neighborhood, meanwhile, saw the largest price gain as one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms gained $625 and $750 monthly on average, respectively, despite the overall average monthly rent falling $113 during that timespan.

Citi Habitats 5-year Rental Market Report 2006-2010 [more]

Source: Citi Habitats

Perhaps Manhattan residential rental prices couldn’t continue to climb higher, or maybe July’s slight decrease in average rents will prove to be a blip on the radar, but as of now Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats, called it “insignificant.”

After a scorching start to the season, the average Manhattan rent decreased 0.4 percent from last month to $3,358 in July, $14 less than June’s average, and $36 less than the all-time high achieved in May 2007, according to the July Manhattan rental market report released today by Citi Habitats that covers the approximately 1,200 deals brokered by the firm.

Three-bedroom apartments helped keep the overall average up as those units rented for 1 percent more than they did last month. But studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments each experienced average decreases of 1 percent.

“The small price adjustment, for now, is like a rounding error,” Malin said. [more]

The Manhattan apartment rental market has been heating up for months, and
second-quarter market reports released today by residential brokerages Citi
Habitats and Prudential Douglas Elliman show skyrocketing rents. Now, the question is how long the rent increases will continue.

The Citi Habitats report, which covers all transactions brokered by the firm in the second quarter and takes concessions into account, shows a year-over-year increase in price of about 10 percent for Manhattan apartments. The
average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan was $2,672 and two-bedroom units
averaged $3,757 per month, up 9.2 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively, from the second
quarter of 2010. But three-bedroom apartments experienced the largest price
increase over last year — 11.3 percent — and now rent for $4,985 on average. [more]

If you’re looking to rent on the Upper East Side or Soho and don’t need a doorman, now might be the time to make a move. While rents overall fell .6 percent in April, rents for non-doorman units on the Upper East Side fell 5.67 percent from a month ago, and non-doorman one-bedroom unit rents in Soho dropped 17 percent in the last six months, according to the Manhattan rental market report released today by the Real Estate Group of New York. Overall, the average rent in non-doorman Manhattan units fell 2.84 percent this month, while doorman unit rents rose .8 percent, and inventory across the board rose 3.84 percent. TRD Comments

With a modest drop in vacancy rates and an overall stability in rents, the Manhattan rental market is showing signs of strength, according to Citi Habitats’ monthly rental market report. Average Manhattan apartment rents remained relatively flat in February, compared to the previous month, with studios and one-bedroom unit rents climbing 2 and 1 percent, respectively, while two-bedroom apartments saw a 2 percent uptick and rents for three-bedrooms climbed 1 percent. The vacancy rate dipped to 1.18 percent last month, compared to January’s 1.26 percent rate. SoHo/Tribeca saw the priciest average rent this month, with three-bedroom units being leased for $8,554. TRD [more]

Manhattan apartment rental rates rose by an average of 1.38 percent over the past month as inventory fell by 4.52 percent, according to the Real Estate Group NY’s December market report, out today. Among the trends the brokerage observed: larger, non-doorman units are filling up faster than smaller apartments with doormen. Apartments without doormen saw a 5.86 percent drop in supply in December, compared with a 3.51 percent drop for full-service apartments. See the full report after the jump. TRD [more]