Apartment rentals New York with Winter Rental Market

February is traditionally the slowest month of the year in Manhattan real estate, a month known for giving renters a chance to find deals. In Februaries past, landlords offered more concessions in order to stimulate demand. This year, the opposite happened. Even given the context of low inventory, few new apartments coming on the market, and high demand, February still exceeded expectations for apartments in every Manhattan neighborhood. Landlords cut back on concessions and raised rents, and the high temperatures brought out far more renters than expected; the high volume of activity far surpassed traditional winter levels. If this is any indication, rents for apartments in Manhattan will keep rising in the spring, the busiest season of the year.

In an unexpected twist, Related Cos. elected to switch the luxury condos in MiMa, their 63-story glass high-rise on 42nd Street and 10th Avenue in Midtown West, to luxury rentals. Related planned for over 3 years to sell the 151 units as luxury condos, all located above the 50th floor of MiMa. The 663 luxury rentals on the lower stories were always been designated as rentals, but this sudden reversal to an all-rental building rather than a mixed sales and rentals building is more telling than it appears, though not in the way we might initially assume. This is not a case of desperate landlords panicking and using the luxury rental market as a safety net. Rather, this is a calculated decision based on the strengths and weaknesses of the rental and sales markets. If Related is making a smart decision, and it certainly appears that way, then MiMa's move to rental bodes well for the luxury rental market in Manhattan.

That wonderful layer of leaves piled on the sidewalks is so charming that it's easy to forget what comes next. We might not want to think about it, but after the leaves fall, so do renter’s moving ambitions--it seems that nothing could possibly be worse than packing a U-Haul in the snow. But for NYC dwellers, there are some strong reasons to go searching during the winter months of November to February, when the Manhattan real-estate market slows down and is on the cusp of change. From couples to discretionary movers to higher-earning business professionals, now is the opportunity for Manhattanites to shop for NYC rentals.