Apartment rentals New York with Manhattan Real Estate Trends

James and Jeanne Harmon are nothing if not persistent. The couple, landlords who own a Beaux-arts style townhouse on West 76th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side, have been attempting to overturn New York City rent-regulations in federal courts for the past 4 years, and their efforts are beginning to pay off. Despite the fact that the couple’s lawsuit lost in the U.S. District Court and the Second U.S. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court is interested in taking it. In an unprecedented move, the justices are asking both New York City and State to file a formal response to the couple’s suit by this Monday. So thanks to the efforts of one couple, the constitutionality of rent-regulation in New York City is being called into question for the first time in history, and the implications for Manhattan real estate are impossible to overstate.

In Manhattan, we tend to think about real estate the way George Orwell thought about communism: all neighborhoods are trendy; some neighborhoods are trendier than others. The Lower East Side is the kind of neighborhood kids from all over dream of one day moving to and becoming artists. Though its as full of high-end retail and upscale restaurants as any other part of the city, it retains a bohemian flair that makes it destination number one for the young, aspiring artist crowd. This can tell us something about real estate trends in the area. Developers say the demographics of the Lower East Side mean that new buildings are far more likely to be rentals than condos.

The Lower East Side in downtown Manhattan is a neighborhood that invokes different things for different people. For many New Yorkers, the neighborhood still stands as one of the most saturated immigrant and working class communities in the city. For others, the Lower East Side is the place to go if you want to indulge in all that downtown living has to offer while finding some of the best real estate bargains in Manhattan. Luxury rentals in Manhattan are in as high demand as ever, and as the extravagence of the neighborhood and building amenities increase, so do the prices. According to the New York Post, rental apartments are cheaper on the Lower East Side than in Manhattan as a whole, and many New Yorkers are willing to trade in excessive amentiies for a better deal.

How can a chain reaction of uncertainty lead to stability? Well, the undercurrent of anxiety in Manhattan real estate over the state of the economy, both at home and abroad, has badly hurt sales of luxury condominiums, but the rental market has flourished in turn; rental vacancies in New York City recently dropped below 1%. This phenomena is one of the most salient features of the Manhattan real estate market today and has already been well documented elsewhere on luxuryrentalsmanhattan.com, but now there’s a new twist to the story: expensive, fully-furnished luxury rentals are more popular than ever. Wealthy New Yorkers have revived the market for furnished rentals despite the fact that the monthly rent is usually double the cost of unfurnished luxury apartments. The causes of this Manhattan real estate trend are counterintuitive, but all of them bolster short-term investments, especially fully-furnished luxury rentals.

New luxury rental buildings built in the past few years have changed the dynamic between buying and renting in Manhattan, perhaps permanently. A trend has emerged among Manhattan elites: a wave of wealthy renters are leasing properties all over the borough. This shift in demand has created a niche market for ultra-luxury apartments that didn’t exist before, at least not nearly to this extent. Moreover, the stigma attached to renting a luxury apartment in Manhattan as a significant downgrade in social status is rapidly disappearing. This Old New York mentality has given way to the new attitude that there is no substantive difference between the two, whether it be in quality of living or in social standing. This shift is directly attributable to the high-quality of new construction in Manhattan, but it extends to all Manhattan real estate as well. The proof is in the listings.