New York City Luxury Rental Blog

There’s been a lot of hype and hoopla over New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to introduce 275-square foot micro apartments in the city as a means to satisfy New Yorkers’ apparent demand for small apartments. Bloomberg’s plans to shrink rental living space has got both positive and negative reactions, although the majority of the feedback seems to have been mostly of the latter category. But it now seems that Bloomberg was on the right path after all—the size of new rentals in the city has been shrinking over the past few years.

With the number of high profile buildings that Lincoln Square contains today, it is hard to believe that this neighborhood was once regarded as an eyesore in New York City. It was with the arrival of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on 65th Street and Broadway that the neighborhood began its transformation from one containing dilapidated buildings and an unwelcome atmosphere to a beautiful one replete with swanky, urban condos and trendy hotspots. Lincoln Square has come a long way from its pedestrian past, and has now become “the place” to live.

What justifies a genuine New York living experience? Certainly, no Manhattan resident would claim that a tourist visiting the city for around a week could never actually grasp what it means to live in New York or to actually experience a Manhattan apartment. However, for many tourists, such an assertion is undoubtedly correct. The new trend in New York tourism is to shun the “non-genuine” feeling of staying in a hotel and visiting all of the common landmarks while visiting Manhattan. Visitors to New York want to truly immerse themselves into Manhattan culture, which of course does not come without having lived in a genuine Manahttan apartment. Such a wish has become reality as many tourists are now taking the chance to live in the rented-out apartments of actual New York residents.  

A few days ago, the second quarter real estate report for U.S. rentals was released, providing plenty of information on the national housing market. The verdict: rents have increased to an all-time high, particularly in New York City. Additionally, demand is at an all time-high. But the most staggering statistic at all is that the U.S. vacancy rate has sharply decreased to a level that hasn’t been seen since 2001. The report has several implications for the Manhattan market, beginning with the fact that in New York City, average rents are now at $2,935 per month, 1.7% more than last quarter.