At the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog, we've been all over the current renter's market in New York real estate. With even the most desirable luxury rental apartments in Manhattan offering free months of rent and a booming number of no fee rental listings -- not to mention the fact that rents have been flatter than flat over the last year -- now is undoubtedly a great time to be a renter in Manhattan. But of course, all good things must come to an end, and the moderately brutal NYC real estate market generally ensures that the end arrives quickly. But while few NYC dwellers expected things to be this good for Manhattan renters forever, the Wall Street Journal is predicting that the renter's market will draw to a close more quickly than expected.
"[Real estate investment trusts are] betting that limited new supply, combined with an improving economy, will lead to ideal market conditions nationwide starting in 2011 or 2012," the Journal's Emily Friedlander writes. "[A]lready in Manhattan the days of mega-concessions seem to be seem to wrapping up, at least in the most desirable neighborhoods. In New York, Equity Residential, which has buildings on the Upper West Side, Chelsea, Murray Hill, the Financial District and elsewhere, said it has stopped paying broker fees for certain unit types." The Journal advises a two-year lease as a way for renters to ride out a potential decline in the Manhattan rental marketplace. We... honestly don't know what to think yet, although issues like this are a good reminder of why it's always smart to work with a qualified real estate agent. The Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog will obviously keep an eye on how the NYC rental market develops over the months to come. For the time being, though, we'll assume that the NYC rental marketplace will remain unusually renter-friendly at the very least through 2010.
