Marc Lewis
Brokers predict that the New York City rental market’s peak season from May to September, which is driven by recent college graduates and new hires, will be slower this year. “We don’t expect to see a normal summer, where rents are driven up by people bidding up,” said Marc Lewis, president of Century 21 NY Metro. “A lot of college kids are not finding jobs, and landlords are competing for a smaller pool,” Lewis said. Danni Tyson, an agent at Halstead Property, said recent graduates have started turning up, but aren’t coming with the same kind of money they had last year, when Wall Street gave salaries of some $60,000 a year and $10,000 in moving fees. Brokers say graduates with limited funds may benefit from the current weakness in finance as rents fall and landlords offer concessions like paying broker fees and months of free rent.