Apartment rentals New York with MiMA

There has been much controversy lately over the room-sharing startup Airbnb which has recently awakened the argument over innovation vs. regulation. Airbnb has been presented itself as one of the most visible players in the “sharing economy” - ahead of services such as Vrbo and Flipkey. These short-term rentals are allegedly depleting the scarce housing market.

It’s time to throw traditional conceptions about the winter rental market in Manhattan out the window. With ideal conditions for raising rents in luxury apartments in Manhattan – high demand, restricted inventory, and low vacancy rates - landlords have spent the past 6 months doing exactly that, which is why the average Manhattan rent in February was just $18 off its all-time high. Even in the best of times, winter is traditionally known for concessions, high vacancy rates, and lower rents, but the exact opposite has happened this year, which is why many buildings are opting to switch from condos to rentals. And in the absence of the usual ebb in market activity, spring and summer will likely push the average Manhattan rent even higher, especially in new apartment developments. Overall, the Manhattan rental market has risen 14% since its nadir in 2009, largely because many wealthy Manhattan residents are reluctant to buy luxury apartments out of fear that they will depreciate in value, creating a large pool of potential renters of luxury apartments in Manhattan who aren’t hesitating to forgo concessions and pay higher rents.

Rich people things: New York City is full of them, from the hundred different takes on seared foie gras to the chilly boutiques of Soho and so on up and down the market. While our media has done a good job of making sure that New Yorkers are up on the latest trends among very wealthy New Yorkers -- and we've certainly done our part here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog, at least insofar as noting the popular renting-a-condo trend among the city's  star athletes -- there's a sense, at least for those of us still living in the actual-existing economy, that these are trends not worth chasing. Which makes it all the more appealing that, albeit at the highest of high-end price points, the wealthiest New Yorkers are now making like everyone else in NYC. Where most of us live in Manhattan rental apartments, the richest New Yorkers long turned to ultra-exclusive co-ops. Now, though, with uncertainty the word throughout the economy, New York's rich are opting to do what everyone else does -- and rent. Yes, they're renting the highest of high-end Manhattan rentals, but for the wealthiest New Yorkers as well as everyone else, renting seems to be the move. The reasoning behind it, unsurprisingly, is proof that -- at least when it comes to finding a place to live in NYC -- the rich are not so very different from you and I.