New York City Luxury Rental Blog

Green Retrofitted Buildings on the Rise in NYC

For NYC dwellers on the hunt for an apartment, green residences might seem more of a nicety than a necessity. But by 2030 high-rise city real estate is going to get a whole lot greener, and hopefully a whole lot more affordable. A recent study has found that simple energy-conserving technology can save landlords bundles, and the statistics endorse New York City’s continued push for citywide environmental initiatives. To keep the city’s green-o-meter rising, new laws mandate many large buildings keep a public tab on their energy efficiency. The desired outcome is green new developments and retrofitted buildings. But what will the impact of all this paper shuffling be for renters, and does this look like a greener NYC or a pipe dream?

Worries Beset the Manhattan Rental Market

The rise of the Manhattan luxury rental market may have peakedMuch has been made of the consistent rise in Manhattan rents in the face of adversity. In the midst of economic woes, the Manhattan luxury real estate world has prided itself on the steady rise of rental prices: the average monthly rent in Manhattan is up 8% from this time last year and is just $53 off the all-time market peak set in 2007. In spite of this remarkable success, many real estate experts view this trend in luxury rentals in Manhattan as unsustainable. With the market slowdown of winter approaching, signs are beginning to point to rents either remaining stable or declining for the first time since 2009.

Fully-Furnished Rentals Getting More Attention than Ever

Fully-furnished luxury rentals in Manhattan are in high demandHow can a chain reaction of uncertainty lead to stability? Well, the undercurrent of anxiety in Manhattan real estate over the state of the economy, both at home and abroad, has badly hurt sales of luxury condominiums, but the rental market has flourished in turn; rental vacancies in New York City recently dropped below 1%. This phenomena is one of the most salient features of the Manhattan real estate market today and has already been well documented elsewhere on luxuryrentalsmanhattan.com, but now there’s a new twist to the story: expensive, fully-furnished luxury rentals are more popular than ever. Wealthy New Yorkers have revived the market for furnished rentals despite the fact that the monthly rent is usually double the cost of unfurnished luxury apartments. The causes of this Manhattan real estate trend are counterintuitive, but all of them bolster short-term investments, especially fully-furnished luxury rentals.

Single Moms Revitalize NYC Rental Market

Manhattan Luxury Apartments at Sunset

Catering to a city of renters, NYC real estate developers seem to design with the tech-savvy resident in mind. But as luxury Manhattan apartments get sleeker, perhaps the hottest amenities on the market aren’t wired at all—just childproof. Statistics from Property and Portfolio Research, a real-estate forecasting firm owned by CoStar, recently reported single moms were the largest group of new NYC renters from 2000 to 2010, comprising 30% of new-renters. But in addition to adding to the diversity of NYC renters, the wave of single-mother-residents revitalizing the NYC housing market scene has the potential to influence more family oriented features in a real-estate race where impersonating resort life has become the foremost objective.

Financial District Condos Converting into Rentals

When New Yorkers think of the Financial District, the last image that would ever come to mind is that of a residential neighborhood. After all, the Financial District wouldn’t be called such if it was populated with residential buildings rather than business headquarters and offices. Yet, that is exactly what many Manhattan residential developers have envisioned in the recent years. In an attempt to revitalize the Financial District as a viable residential neighborhood in downtown Manhattan, many developers have converted what were once old office buildings into condos. The only problem is that nobody wanted to buy. But a buyer's loss is swiftly turning into renters' gains.

Manhattan’s Trendiest Neighborhood is Also the Priciest

Tribeca_Daytime_ViewRent hikes. A stale array of Manhattan apartment listings. That’s the rental market scene NYC-apartment-hunters stretching from Harlem to FiDi have been testifying to. The continuing drag in the new-development pipeline (a repercussion of the 2008 stock market crash) coupled with some of the lowest vacancy rates the city has ever seen have dispersed most incentives for landlords to keep rents low. But although rent is up across the board, where in the city is the priciest? The two neighborhoods that take the cake are among Manhattan’s most popular -- the gilded Bohemian paradise that is SoHo, and chic, strutting Tribeca, where trends are born.

The Scarcity of NYC Multi-Bedroom Luxury Rentals

Multi-Bedroom luxury apartments are harder to come by, but many are still out thereLuxury rental apartments in NYC, as opposed to luxury apartments for sale, continue to be the first choice of many searching throughout the Manhattan real estate market. A variety of factors have contributed to this, including but not limited to: increased difficulty in securing outside financing; the still present aftershock of the housing crisis; and just all around lower personal income and savings. Perhaps this phenomenon can explain the recent shortage of multi-bedroom luxury rental apartments in Manhattan, a trend that crosses all neighborhoods and areas.

Should Manhattan Renters Have Renters Insurance?

Manhattan Luxury Rentals - Renters Insurance

From earthquake aftershocks to hurricane-turned-tropical-storm Irene, New York City has seen its fair share of natural hazards in 2011. In a city filled to the brim with luxury rental apartments, many renters have a false sense of security and misconceptions about renters insurance. According to a 2010 survey, more than 70% of the 81 million Americans who rent either do not have renters insurance or even know that it exists. Given that the average American renter owns up to $30,000 in personal properties, a renter who finds himself or herself as an unfortunate victim of mother nature would potentially be paying for the bills all out of their own pockets.

International Guarantors and NYC Luxury Real Estate

Luxury Manhattan Rentals - International StudentsWithin NYC luxury real estate, it is often quite difficult as an international student to find a luxury rental apartment. It can be hard for most students, as well as many others without a long work history or established credit, to obtain a luxury apartment lease. But for international students searching through NYC luxury real estate listings, it can be even more of an ordeal, simply because they do not have the same opportunity to use a guarantor. Susan Tsang, for example, is a PhD student in biology who was born in Hong Kong. When she moved to NYC to attend school, she did not have any U.S. employment history, and therefore was in a position where she needed a co-signer. However, because her parents still lived in Hong Kong, she was confronted with a number of challenges, as dozens of landlords refused to allow for international guarantors. She was eventually able to find a studio in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood, but not before she was forced to deal with the roadblocks a great many foreigners have had to circumnavigate.

Manhattan Apartments See Rents Increase... Again

Manhattan Apartment Rentals - Rents IncreaseThe wealth of Manhattan real estate comes with a wealth of Manhattan real estate reports. Reports from the most recent quarter showed activity in the market, but at slower rates than the previous quarter and last year, and with pricier trends.  So indeed, that chorus of renters' sighs heard around the city this past Friday came from a usual suspect: the rental market report.

Manhattan rental market reports show rents going up in the third quarter this year, while the number of new luxury Manhattan rentals continues to fall. They also indicate that NYC landlords are taking the glitter-out-of-the-envelope in terms of concessions. And as rent goes rises across the board, The New York Times reports that many tired Manhattan tenants with end-of-the-run leases have received stark demands for higher rent, and are consequently shopping around for more affordable options.