Rental market roars

Vacancy rates dropping, rents in tightest market in years; how brokers are profiting

A landlord just below 14th Street in the West Village had been getting $1,600 or $1,650 a month for a studio apartment. Recently, though, he’s been able to command $1,900 for it.

“He’s thrilled now,” said Kevin Korn, rental manager for brokerage City Connections, which has the exclusive listing for the studio.

Such is the current Manhattan rental market, where vacancy dipped in May to below 0.5 percent and rents in many neighborhoods continue to crest.

The city’s economy remains stronger than much of the rest of the nation and its employment outlook glows brightly. In early June, the state Labor Department reported that New York City’s unemployment rate, at 5 percent, had reached its lowest point since 1988; Manhattan’s alone was even lower at 4.1 percent. Plus, city-based universities such as New York University and Columbia report surges in application numbers. NYU got a record 35,073 applications this year for its next freshman class.

Add a slowing sales market wracked by rising interest rates to this rise in city dwellers with jobs or classes, and it’s no wonder that landlords are in a virtual golden age — and so, for the most part, are brokers.

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