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January 21, 2008
Trends: Lower Rents and ‘Condo Reversions’
The Wall Street Journal examines how renters are finding excellent deals in areas of the U.S. that have been most affected by the subprime crisis, areas where many developers have put thousands of unsold condo units on the market as rentals. As with most aspects of the subprime mess, lower rents and “condo reversions” have largely bypassed the priciest segments of the New York City market, though the article name checks 99 Gold Street as an example of a condo-turned-rental. It’s also worth noting that the Real Estate Group of New York found that average rents in Manhattan, with the exception of doorman studios, declined at the end of 2007 (we couldn’t find comparable data for Brooklyn). All this data seems like good fodder for speculation, though: Think ’07 might bring falling rents and more condo reversions to Brooklyn?
Home Sellers' Pain Is Renters' Gain [WSJ]
Half Sold, 99 Gold Throws in the Towel, Goes Rental [Brownstoner]
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Comments
Regardless of what this article states, the reality is in New York City the rents are still insane. A friend of mine pays $1200/month for a crappy, small 1br apt in the East Village. He was looking to see what he could get for $2400-2600 and he said, "not much." (he was exploring the potential co-habitating with his lady friend with the expectation that they'd be able to get something nice for twice the price.
He doesn't want to move to BedStuy or Inwood (where he looked).
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 10:10 AM
Regardless of what this article states, the reality is in New York City the rents are still insane. A friend of mine pays $1200/month for a crappy, small 1br apt in the East Village. He was looking to see what he could get for $2400-2600 and he said, "not much." (he was exploring the potential co-habitating with his lady friend with the expectation that they'd be able to get something nice for twice the price.
He doesn't want to move to BedStuy or Inwood (where he looked).
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 10:10 AM
1200 anywhere below 96th street is a steal
Posted by: Santa at January 21, 2008 10:30 AM
"Think ’07 might bring falling rents and more condo reversions to Brooklyn?"
short answer: No
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 10:30 AM
I think you meant "08 might bring...."
07 prices will be but a distant memory.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 10:50 AM
"Think ’07 might bring falling rents and more condo reversions to Brooklyn?"
Yes. Have they sold ANY of those condos in the South Slope / Greenwood Heights?
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 1:08 PM
don't think that 99 Gold is a good example. horrible location...
williamsburg new condos are selling extremely well in finished buildings. people hoping that they would turn rental have been disappointed so far.
we'll see i guess, but rents seem really really high still.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 1:09 PM
"Think ’07 might bring falling rents and more condo reversions to Brooklyn?"
Absolutely. It's only logical. Our population was virtually unchanged and inventory (new construction and conversions) has skyrocketed.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 1:30 PM
"...the reality is in New York City the rents are still insane..."
True, for now. The fact that they are characterized by the word 'insane' lies in the basis for why they will drop significantly. NYC rents will always remain high but NOT THIS high.
But they won't drop as much as home prices as those figures have been much more insane. Even though rents have shot up, they still do not fundamentally support home prices like the historical norm.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 1:38 PM
those williamsburg condo owners will soon be renting their places out after a month of commuting on the L.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 2:17 PM
love the L. it's fast and connects to every subway. i have gotten to grand central in 10 minutes from hitting the L platform. recently attended a party in the west '60's, and it was 25 minutes door to door. the L runs several trains very close together and is going to run even more from i understand.
i am a really happy condo owner off the bedford L and have no intention of moving after living here for some time.
2:17 - do you even live in williamsburg? jeez, it's so close to manhattan, who can complain about that - since most of us still work there.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 9:13 PM
fuck williamsburg and fuck luxury condos.
Posted by: guest at January 21, 2008 10:18 PM
9.13, you can lie all you want. Many people have moved away from the burg because of the L. The MTA just hasn't accounted for the massive increase in commuting population. They need to turn some of the L trains around at Lorimer each morning between 7.30 and 9 and run them back to 8th ave, skipping 1st and 3rd aves. That'd fix it.
But until they do, its broken.
Posted by: guest at January 22, 2008 8:47 AM
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