New York City Luxury Rental Blog Archives for November 2010

Manhattan Luxury Rental Buildings: Now With More Luxury (And Market Share)

It's a trend we've written about over and over again -- with Manhattan condos seemingly a sketchier investment than in years past and still out of just about everyone's price range, more and more people are opting for Manhattan rental apartments over condos. There are, as we've also noted here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog, good economic reasons for this, but there's another, simpler reason why the market for Manhattan rental apartments is surging while the condo market is stagnant. That other, simpler reason being that new construction Manhattan luxury rentals increasingly offer the same high-end finishes and fixtures, and similar suites of amenities and extras, as their condo counterparts -- and offer it without the economic anxieties that come with a mortgage, a co-op board, and all those other, less-desirable condo extras. But while it's not necessarily surprising that high-end luxury rentals are bouncing back from the Manhattan real estate downturn than condominiums, there's also more to the reason why this is so than the fact that both top-tier new construction NYC luxury rentals and high-end condos feature SubZero refrigerators and expansive suites of amenities. Although that obviously doesn't hurt.

Rent Check: Study Confirms It's Smarter (And Cheaper) To Rent Than Own In NYC

There have been ups and downs in the market for Manhattan apartments for sale, but with the economy still bumping along the bottom in a host of indicators, the NYC condo market remains more of a buyer's market than a seller's market at this point. Which is great news... if you have $1.8 million dollars lying around, in which case you're used to great news every time you visit the ATM. But with the average price on Manhattan apartments rising to around $2 million, this buyer's market isn't one most New York apartment hunters can partake in. The good news, of course, is that there are plenty of available luxury rental apartments in Manhattan, many of them offering a level of luxury and amenitization that rivals that found at high-end Manhattan apartments for sale. But here's the better news -- a new study from real estate info clearinghouse Trulia reveals that it's not just less expensive to rent a Manhattan apartment than to buy one, it's also notably wiser and more cost-effective in the long run. (Thus the bling-bling dollar signs on this post) (Well, also we think they're neat)

Hudson Square, Ready For Its Close-Up: Call It West SoHo Or South Greenwich Village If You Wish, But Re-Zoned Manhattan 'Hood Is On The Rise

Hudson Square Manhattan Rental Apartments

The first rule of Manhattan real estate -- of real estate in general -- is said to be "location, location, location." Which, as conventional wisdom goes, isn't the silliest thing in the world. But Manhattan real estate observers could be forgiven, in recent years, for believing that at least one of those "location"'s could be swapped out for "branding." New Manhattan neighborhoods are nothing new -- New York City is a study in flux, and all it takes is one zoning decision and a few bold luxury rental developers to turn a neighborhood like the nowheresville around the Lincoln Tunnel entrance into "The Linc," a newly branded neighborhood complete with its own green luxury rental listings and superstar new rental developments such as Emerald Green. What sets Hudson Square apart from The Linc, besides a much cooler name -- The Linc? You're sure about that? -- is that this new neighborhood is actually one of Manhattan's oldest neighborhood. Hudson Square is, for all intents and purposes, West Soho. And it's not exactly "new," either, given that it has been around for centuries -- the Ear Inn, one of Manhattan's oldest nightspots, is a Hudson Square landmark -- and was Manhattan's printing district back when Manhattan had things like printing districts. But a recent re-branding campaign has helped Hudson Square re-make itself as one of the hotter residential neighborhoods in lower Manhattan, and a new campaign to remake the city's streets into leafier, more pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares suggests that it's time for all of us -- those looking for apartment rentals in SoHo and those of us who just dig NYC real estate -- to give this old-new neighborhood a new look. So, yeah: let's look at Hudson Square.

Back To You, Jimmy: New York Observer On Why Manhattan Rents Are (And Aren't) Too Damn High

We know what you're thinking: is this post just an excuse to break out the Jimmy "Rent Is Too Damn High Party" McMillan image again? Which, honestly, we shouldn't even dignify with a response, but here you go: 1) what a ridiculous accusation, really and 2) yes, but only kind of. But there's more to this post than a wish to recall the fond memories we have of the pioneering karate expert/politician that Luxury Rentals Manhattan endorsed for Governor earlier this year. While we spend a lot of time following the ebb and flow of the market for Manhattan rental apartments -- and some time reminding everyone that rents, while high, are not quite as bad as you might think -- the nature of our work here gives us very little time to look into the how's and why's of Manhattan real estate. Or, as Jimmy might put it, the how's and why's of how NYC apartment rents became too damn high. But as Tom Acitelli writes in a terrific piece for the New York Observer, there are several very good reasons why Manhattan apartment rents seem so damn high -- and also plenty of reasons why NYC rents, while high, are not too damnably so when considered in context.

Deluxe (Rental) Apartment In The Sky: More And More New Yorkers Opting For High-End Rentals Over Condos

After a number of recent posts here at the Luxury Rentals Manhattan blog can attest, we are of the opinion that autumn and winter are about as good as it gets for Manhattan luxury rentals. Which, being as this is the blog at a site comprised mostly of Manhattan rental listings, probably makes some sense. But while the seasonal rise in concessions makes Manhattan rentals that much more appealing, there's also a broader, contextual reason the Manhattan apartment rental market has performed so well of late -- that reason being that buying Manhattan condos is hugely expensive, hilariously onerous, generally difficult and not becoming notably less so. All of which explains, somewhat, why the market for high-price, high-end Manhattan luxury rentals is currently booming. And things are currently hottest at the very high end of the market.

Luxury Rentals Manhattan Stathead Special: October's NYC Rental Apartment Stats In Context

It's the nature of things, both here at Luxury Rentals Manhattan and elsewhere in the world, to see things out of context. After all, what's happening right now generally seems more important because of that right-nowness. But when it comes to Manhattan apartment rental figures -- heck, when it comes to anything at all -- context is the thing. Slight fluctuations from month to month are meaningful as far as they go -- that is, 30-odd days -- but not so meaningful beyond that. Which, besides the fact that we're kind of into anything having to do with Manhattan apartment rentals, is why we so dig UrbanDigs' multi-year, context-rich NYC real estate rental chart. So, what are we looking at, here?

Rise and Fall: Do Rising Vacancy Rates On Manhattan Rental Apartments Augur A Comeback For Concessions?

You know it's good news when Luxury Rentals Manhattan breaks out the popchampagne.jpg imagery, and so it is in this case. Of course, rising vacancy rates are not the sort of thing that landlords pop corks over -- the tighter the market for NYC apartment rentals is, the more they're able to get for said NYC apartment rentals. But with October rental stats showing an (expected, seasonal) rise in the New York apartment vacancy rate, things in the Manhattan real estate market seem to have turned in favor of renters, after months of running the other way. Again, this sort of thing pretty much always happens in autumn, which is why it's the most wonderful time of the year for Manhattan apartment hunters. But that doesn't mean renters shouldn't be celebrating this particular bit of seasonal good luck. While CitiHabitats' report on the October rental market indicated that rents fell one percent from September's averages, the real news here is the rising vacancy rate -- and how it could wind up making concessions on NYC apartments a lot less rare. Thus the popping corks. Read on for the nitty gritty.