Apartment rentals New York with Real Estate Stats

That Spring Bump In Manhattan Rental Prices? It's Late, But It's Here.

Studio vs 2 Bedroom Rental PricesHere at Luxury Rentals Manhattan we’ve kept an eagle-eye on the recently-calm state of the luxury rental market for you, although we'll admit that at times it was like watching paint dry. Month after month, and well into the anticipated warm-weather boom period, Manhattan rental stats remained boldly, brazenly blah -- up a healthy percentage over last year's counterparts, but inching up only a fraction of a percent month to month. Sure, we warned that a bump in Manhattan rental prices was coming -- we're a blog about Manhattan real estate, and as such know what's coming. But after months of the same warnings, a sort of a chicken little vibe became almost inescapable. As we’ve previously noted, rents barely rose month-to-month this year as landlords have remained prudent, hedging their bets on a a strong spring eliminating the last vestiges of ennui from the market. And now, as June dawns in a flurry of sticky 90 degree days, it seems like spring has finally sprung in the Manhattan luxury rental marketplace.

Spring, Unsprung: NYC Rents Once Again Way Up Over 2010, But Barely Budge Month-To-Month

Every month, the statistics on Manhattan luxury rentals tell the same story. Which means that just about every post we do on that topic reads pretty similar to the one before. At the risk of getting intolerably meta-bloggy, here's a quote from a recent Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog post on February's rental stats. "While increased demand should have led to a serious spike in Manhattan rents, it hasn't... yet. A pair of recent studies show that rents are up a robust 8 percent over 2010 figures, but rents are still essentially flat month-to-month, just as they were last month." You'll notice that "last month" links to another Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog post that says almost exactly the same thing. And so you see how this works, and has worked -- demand has stayed strong for Manhattan rentals, and is growing stronger as the traditional NYC real estate boomtime of spring approaches, but prices have barely budged month-over-month. That was the story in March, and it may yet be the story in April. It's the waiting for it to change part that has people nervous.

The Hold Steady: Manhattan Rents Way Up Over Last Year, Barely Up Over Last Month

That the Manhattan real estate market is in a better place now than it was 12 months ago is looking more and more like an objective fact. But while each month seems to bring more news that the marketplace for Manhattan rental apartments is back on its feet, there's an odd, uneasy addendum to what looks like good news. Well, two -- one is that what's good for the Manhattan rental marketplace is usually good for landlords, not those searching rental listings. But the more novel issue this time around is that, while the Manhattan rental market seems to be tilting in landlords' directions and the old renter's market appears to be on its way out, numbers suggest that things should really be a lot worse for Manhattan renters. While the number of no-fee rental listings in Manhattan has shrunk, there are still plenty out there. While landlord concessions have diminished, they're still out there to find. And while increased demand should have led to a serious spike in Manhattan rents, it hasn't... yet. A pair of recent studies show that rents are up a robust 8 percent over 2010 figures, but rents are still essentially flat month-to-month, just as they were last month. For now, at least. So you see the "uneasy" part, presumably.