Apartment rentals New York with Rental Market Report

“The rent is too damn high!” This phrase, adopted as the slogan and the official name of by a New York City political party founded by Jimmy McMillan, is something that every New Yorker has probably uttered at least once during his or her stay in the city that never sleeps. And if the latest real estate reports are anything to go by, it seems this sad refrain is not likely to lose its popularity any time soon: high rents are still very much the norm for apartments in Manhattan. The Manhattan Rental Market Report for July by MNS has revealed that as the first half of the year came to closure, most rents for apartments in the city have seen increases as compared to June.

Two new market reports released this week confirmed what we already knew but added a few twists to the story. According to both reports, rents in Manhattan for luxury rental apartments continued their upward year-to-year trajectory in March. These median and average rent increases were elevated by a dearth of landlord concessions, something that we at Luxury Rentals Manhattan wrote about previously. The real shocker was that one report found that the average rent in for rental apartments in Manhattan in March, not including concessions, reached $3,418 a month, breaking the previous all-time high set in May 2007. The picture isn’t quite as one-sided as it appears though. Hidden beneath all these highs, there are some signs that the scales may finally be tipping back in favor of renters.

The MNS rental market report for the month of January is out, and much like in December, it shows a market that has conformed to expectations and dipped, but that is still much stronger than it was a year ago. Generally, the cold winter months keep market activity to a minimum, but average rent for all luxury Manhattan rentals dropped only 0.4% from December to January. Prices in December were down 1% from where they were in November, suggesting that, while the market has sagged a bit, it is by no means as low as it was last year, or as low as industry professionals were expecting. In fact, rent rates are up an average 7.2% from where they were in January 2011. If you’re looking for another sign that the Manhattan rental market has improved substantially, here it is.

The wealth of Manhattan real estate comes with a wealth of Manhattan real estate reports. Reports from the most recent quarter showed activity in the market, but at slower rates than the previous quarter and last year, and with pricier trends.  So indeed, that chorus of renters' sighs heard around the city this past Friday came from a usual suspect: the rental market report.

Manhattan rental market reports show rents going up in the third quarter this year, while the number of new luxury Manhattan rentals continues to fall. They also indicate that NYC landlords are taking the glitter-out-of-the-envelope in terms of concessions. And as rent goes rises across the board, The New York Times reports that many tired Manhattan tenants with end-of-the-run leases have received stark demands for higher rent, and are consequently shopping around for more affordable options.