New York City Luxury Rental Blog Archives for May 2010

Better To Rent Than To Buy? Most People Say Yes

The very fact that a second "Sex and the City" movie exists is proof that the lessons of the sharp economic downturn -- both in Manhattan real estate and, um, everything else -- haven't totally sunken in with everybody out there. But while it's usually not a good idea to look to NYC real estate for signs of rational, level-headed thought, a recent poll by the National Apartment Association indicates that perhaps those looking for Manhattan rental apartments have internalized the lessons of the economic demi-disaster better than, say, whoever green-lit "Sex and the City 2: The Grievous Miscalculation." The NAA poll finds that 76 percent of people prefer to rent apartments, as opposed to owning them. That's a five percent increase since 2008, and it is, in its way, kind of heartening.

From "No Fee" To "No, Fee": WSJ Reports That Landlords Less Willing To Pay Broker's Fees On Manhattan Rental Apartments

We obviously spend a great deal of time surveying the market for Manhattan rental apartments here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog -- the fact that this is the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog might've been some indication of this. But while there's plenty of good news for NYC dwellers looking for a luxury rental in Manhattan, and we do our best to report it, the one topic we've kept coming back to over recent weeks and months is the decline (or not-decline) of the renter's market in Manhattan real estate. For the time being, we'd describe the renter's market as, if you'll pardon the real estate jargon, "still kind of happening, for the most part." But while prices are still fairly low on Manhattan rental listings, the perks that defined the renter's market at its peak -- from landlords paying fees to highly negotiable listing prices on rental apartments -- seem to be fading into the past. In the Wall Street Journal, Dawn Potapka delivers an obituary for the days of landlords gladly paying fees on Manhattan apartments. Let us bow our heads:

View From The Balcony, or Are Balconies Still A Perk On Manhattan Rental Apartments?

By all accounts, the sad and scary death of a Murray Hill renter last month after he fell from a not-up-to-code balcony was both a fluke accident and the product of some serious oversight on the part of the building manager. It's not the sort of thing anyone likes to think about, this sort of thing, and for obvious reasons. But if you go through the rental apartment listings at Luxury Rentals Manhattan, you're going to notice that balconies are something we talk about a lot. We do this because, as Manhattan apartment perks go, balconies are pretty cool and pretty in-demand. A perch above it all, a bit of private space, an opportunity to grab some fresh air -- these are things that NYC dwellers want in a Manhattan rental apartment, and they are things that NYC dwellers will continue to want in a Manhattan rental apartment. We're not in the prediction business here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog, but that seems like a fairly easy prediction to make. That said/fearlessly predicted, as New York Magazine's S. Jhoanna Robledo reports, more and more people are getting antsy about what was once a pretty sweet Manhattan apartment perk.

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.

Upper West Side Table-Turn: New York Times "Hunt" Author Becomes Hunted, Reveals Upper West Side Rental Apartment

Manhattan real estate heads already know that Joyce Cohen's "The Hunt" column in the New York Times is one of the more enjoyable Manhattan real estate reads out there. But as entertaining as it is to read Cohen's interviews with people seeking (and finding) rental apartments in Manhattan, there's always the matter of authorial distance. That is -- and we're not going to get too lit-crit on you, both because it's been a long time since college and because this is the blog on a website about luxury rental apartments in Manhattan -- the question of where and how Cohen herself lives. Does it color her perspective? Bias her discussion of neighborhoods? Are her ceilings higher than yours?

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.

Tear Down That Wall? The Quest To Open Gramercy Park To NYC Dwellers Continues

There are a great many reasons to look for a luxury rental in Gramercy Park -- greater Gramercy is a beautiful neighborhood with plenty of nice restaurants, some charmingly low-key nightspots and several really nice rental apartment listings. But as much as we at Luxury Rentals Manhattan love us some Lex Lofts or Park 23, there's one thing that a rental apartment in Gramercy will never boast: access to the actual Gramercy Park. Keys to Gramercy Park are among the most elusive prizes in Manhattan real estate, and even people who own their apartments on Gramercy Park are denied keys. If you don't own one of the 39 town houses surrounding Gramercy Park, the best you can hope for is to look through the high, wrought-iron fence surrounding Gramercy Park's eponymous green space. But will it always be thus?