The U.S. housing market’s recovery will be led by renters and multi-unit developments, data released today by the Demand Institute, an independent consumer research organization, predicted. The report found that 50 percent of those planning to move in the next two years say they will rent, not buy. This demand for rentals is helping to clear the supply of foreclosed single-family homes — 13 percent of all mortgages were foreclosed upon in 2011 — as developers convert them into multiple units for rent. [more]

Manhattan’s record-high rents, which are isolated from the still uneven economy, are driving several significant changes in the market, according to the New York Times. Brokers say more young people are sharing apartments, and even sacrificing a living room in the process, in order to ease the burden of rising rents. Other renters, who in the past would only consider Manhattan, are being drawn to the outer boroughs. [more]

From the February issue: When legal recruiter Annie Sud got engaged in 2009, she quickly realized that her 500-square-foot Chelsea co-op was too small for her and her fiancé, so the couple rented a larger apartment together. But in the depths of the real estate downturn, Sud couldn’t find a buyer willing to match what she’d paid for her co-op only two years earlier. And when she approached the board for permission to rent out the unit, the answer was no: The building had already reached the maximum number of units it allows to be rented at any given time.

Sud had no choice but to keep the apartment on the market, sitting empty, while she paid $3,000 for her mortgage each month. It finally sold in October 2011 for less than the purchase price. [more]

source: RentJuice

Asking rents in New York City continued to rise in the fourth quarter, countering the typical seasonal decreases that other major cities like Boston and Chicago experienced, according to a report released today by online rental firm RentJuice.

Taking into account various apartment sizes, New York City rents increased 1 percent over the third quarter to $3,299. By comparison, rents decreased 1 percent to $1,961 and 4 percent to $1,366 in Boston and Chicago, respectively. [more]

Apartment vacancies nationwide fell to a decade-low 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a Reis report cited by Bloomberg News. That’s a 7.1 percent drop from the previous quarter’s rate of 5.6, and a 21.2 percent drop year-over-year. The U.S. vacancy rate has decreased for seven straight quarters from a 30-year high of 8 percent at the end of 2009 . [more]

A furnished NYC apartmentMany of the same factors that have powered a strong rental market are driving a demand for furnished apartments, New York Magazine reported.

Turnkey apartments tend to offer shorter term leases, which appeal to renters who consider their current job temporary or are putting off purchasing decisions. They don’t want to invest in furniture if they believe they won’t be in the apartment for long. Another group prefers the short-term leases that characterize furnished apartments because they are typically quicker to process and require less paperwork. Regardless, they are faced with higher costs.

“In general, anything that rents for less than a year and is furnished will come at a premium — at least double,” said Jeff Schleider, managing director of Miron Properties. [more]

New York City’s renters are racing for an increasingly limited supply of multi-bedroom units, according to an inaugural quarterly rental market report by RentJuice, with only 36 percent of listed New York City apartments containing two bedrooms or more.

The average price to lease a New York City home is $3,267 per month, but renters are paying $7,782 on average for a unit in west Soho, Manhattan’s most expensive area, RentJuice’s data shows. Other pricey neighborhoods include Tribeca, Central Park South and Battery Park City, which have monthly rents averaging $7,782, $5,151 and $4,159 respectively, according to the report.

If a renter is seeking multiple bedrooms, Brooklyn may be the obvious choice. — Katherine Clarke [more]

As in the New York City market, rental vacancies nationally are way down and prices are up, according to a report by analytic firm Reis cited by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News.

The national vacancy rate fell to 5.6 percent in the third quarter, the lowest figure since 2007, and 1.5 percentage points below where it stood during the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the average rent rose to $1,004, from $997 in the second quarter and $981 in the third quarter of 2010. [more]

Using data from New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, Nakedapartments.com created a visual graphic highlighting the unique aspects of New York City’s rental markets starting with one core factor: in the city, 69 percent of households are renters compared to 33 percent in the U.S. as a whole. While in Manhattan, buildings with 100 units or more are the most frequent, in Brooklyn and Queens one- to four-unit buildings are the most frequent rental properties. The percentage of rental apartments affordable to households making the New York City median income has dropped since 1970, and the median rent has risen for residents who have moved into rental apartments after the year 2000. Click here to see the rest of the graphic. – Miranda Neubauer

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
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