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Rent Stabilization Association Fights Rent Freeze

rent stabilization association

President of the Rent Stabilization Association: Joseph Strasburg 

The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) will be making a highly debated decision next week in regards to a percentile increase of rent stabilized apartments. Although this vote takes place every year, this year’s decision has been exceptionally publicized due to a potential rent freeze. Bill de Blasio, the first mayor to ever run on the platform of a rent freeze, may come through on his promise—considering that over half the board has been given a seat via his appointment. Although the board favors implementation of the first rent freeze in NYC history, the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) has other ideas.

De Blasio Appoints New Rent Guidelines Board Members

Bill de Blasio Renters Guideline Board

Mayor de Blasio has so far stayed in consistency with his plan to create more affordable housing here in NYC. One method of making NYC a more affordable city would be pursuing a renters’ freeze of regulated rents. The Rent Guidelines Board, which is comprised of nine people, had five seats on this board that were recently up for re-appointment or new appointments in March. De Blasio had finally filled these five of the nine seats. The other four seats left for re/new-appointment will be filled in December 2014.

Report: Rental Risk Falls In New York

Copy of CoreLogic ChartSource: CoreLogic

It seems New Yorkers are on the right track. Back in 2010, the risk of default for renters applying for apartments was at a mundane 98 for 2 bedroom apartments, and close to 99 for 1 bedroom apartments. Being as numbers below 100 increases the risk of default for applicants, New Yorkers were in a position - financially - of having property managers more readily deny their applications. According to CoreLogic, in a short two year period this risk of default has dramatically changed.

Remember The Good Times: Concessions Seemingly On The Way Out In 2011

We talk about the renter's market here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog the way that older men in bars talk about their high school football days, but we do so for a reason -- those were good times to be in the market for Manhattan rental apartments. Not only were rents down -- or, at the very least, flat -- but concessions abounded from the bottom of the market to the top. As the renter's market has receded during the NYC rental market's return to form, those concessions have become harder nad harder to find. They're still out there, of course -- there are plenty of no-fee rental listings in Manhattan and, oddly enough, concessions are still available to find at new construction luxury rentals such as The Ohm and 808 Columbus Avenue -- but concessions have been harder and harder to come by in recent months, despite widespread hopes that there would be a concession bounce-back in the fall. Just-released fourth-quarter statistics make it plain -- the last few months have seen the number of concessions fall by more than half from where they were in January of 2010 and are roughly a third of what they were at the end of 2009. Good news for landlords, in short, but less so for those hunting for Manhattan rental apartments. Combine this with a bump in rents and a low vacancy rate, and it's hard to find a silver lining in all this. Luckily, it's out there.

Power Struggle Files: New York Times Claims Balance Of Power In Manhattan Rental Market Tipping Towards Landlords

Time flies when you're writing about real estate. It seems like only a few months ago that we had a post at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog entitled "Sad Landlords, Happy Renters." And that's because, as it turns out, it was only a few months ago -- it was only April that the renter's market for Manhattan rental listings was that robust. Since then, though, things have changed -- as the Manhattan real estate market has returned to health, the concessions, incentives and price breaks that defined the renter's market in Manhattan real estate have largely fallen by the wayside. This was already starting to happen back in May, and by late August we were writing mournful posts with titles like "Vacancies Down, Rents Up On NYC Apartments." The lessons of all this? For one, we obviously like that particular style of headline construction. But for another, despite the fact that there are still no-fee apartment listings and good deals on Manhattan rental apartments to be found out there, things have been trending in landlords' direction for some time. That doesn't make it any more exciting to read the New York Times' recent rundown of that situation, but it does at least make things less surprising. Good news, bad news, after the jump.

The Last Concession? Post Reports Concessions In Decline At New York City Rentals

We've been writing about the renter's market in Manhattan rentals here at Luxury Rentals Manhattan for months now, but much of what we've been writing about the renter's market has been about its imminent end. Is it here yet? How about now? Maybe while we were at lunch? The answer to those (incessant) questions remains more or less the same: the market for rental apartments in Manhattan is still tilted towards renters, but it appears to be in the midst of a return to the mean. Which in turn means, as the New York Post reports today, that it's increasingly tough for NYC dwellers to get the sort of concessions on Manhattan rentals that they routinely received during the heyday of the renter's market. Using Clinton luxury rental success story 505 West 37th as a test case, the Post's Katherine Dykstra reports that while concessions are down, the market is not totally back to its boom-era levels.

Renting: Still the Rock Star's Choice

If the classic rent-versus-buy debate in Manhattan real estate were a building, instead of a debate, it would be pre-war. But as old as that debate is -- and as academic as it is rendered by the high price of a Manhattan condo and the comparatively advantageous market for Manhattan luxury rentals -- it's worth remembering that renting in Manhattan isn't just for those who can't afford to buy in Manhattan. Let's take Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill, for instance.

Rents Are Up On Manhattan Rental Apartments. So, Is the Renter's Market in NYC Real Estate's Time Up?

The Manhattan real estate market is a volatile and complicated thing. Given that you're almost certainly at Luxury Rentals Manhattan because you're searching for a rental apartment in Manhattan, you already know about the "complicated" part. But the volatility of the NYC rental market is what makes Manhattan real estate such a fascinating thing. Well, that volatility and the volatility of NYC real estate market watchers, who tend to freak out about even the smallest bit of real estate news. The Wall Street Journal's recent report that Manhattan rents rose 0.9% in the first quarter of 2010 is one such bit of real estate news, but the freakout it has precipitated is not entirely uncalled for. The rise in Manhattan rental prices was the first such bump in NYC rents in five quarters, and has Curbed, among other websites, wondering if the long renter's market on Manhattan rental apartments is drawing to a close. So, is it?