Co-op owners hit hardest by 2011 fee hikes

Annual common charges in New York City condominiums are slated to increase next year by between 4.5 percent and 6.5 percent, on average, according to property management company Cooper Square Realty, which is the managing agent for more than 400 apartment buildings in the city, including the Plaza and One Lincoln Square. Meanwhile, co-op owners are getting hit a little harder, with maintenance charges set to rise by an average of between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent in 2011. The firm used boards’ annual budgets to make the estimates. Still, Dan Wurtzel, president of Cooper Square, said the disparity between co-op and condo rate increases is smaller than usual because “many co-ops are taking advantage of historically low interest rates to refinance their underlying mortgages in order to offset real estate tax increases. For condos, the Fannie
Mae/Freddie Mac reserve issue is clearly having an impact.” TRD

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