Rentals in demand: College grads on the prowl

TRD's weekly look at the most searched-for apartments

Two-bedroom apartments had a big week for prospective Manhattan renters, according to Zumper, an apartment listings website.

While two-bedrooms were still the third most popular among other apartment sizes, they had 29 percent of the leads. The median inquiry for those apartments was $2,850 per month. One-bedrooms had 31 percent, while studios had 30 percent, Zumper data show. Devin O’Brien, head of strategic marketing at Zumper, attributed the rise of two-bedrooms to students returning from college. 

“Now is about the time of year when college students are graduating and looking for housing with roommates,” O’Brien told The Real Deal. “Though it doesn’t explain the entire surge, we’ve seen a number of inquiries for two-bedrooms and three-bedrooms coming from .edu email addresses.”

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As for neighborhood demand, the Upper East Side was again on top, followed by the Upper West Side, West Village, Hell’s Kitchen and Central Harlem in order.

The priciest inquiry was for a three-bedroom apartment in Battery Park City asking $10,000 per month, while the cheapest was for a Central Harlem studio asking $975 per month.

Methodology: Zumper determined the rankings by using a representative sample of emails and phone calls from renters interested in its Manhattan listings available for the week ending May 18. — Mark Maurer