After Languishing, Rentals Picking Up
The Times reports this weekend of rapidly rising residential rents around the country and with particular vigor in New York City. Even though rents for apartments in the Big Apple never really fell much, landlords lost some of their pricing power during the buying boom of recent years. Now, it appears, with prices still realtively…
The Times reports this weekend of rapidly rising residential rents around the country and with particular vigor in New York City. Even though rents for apartments in the Big Apple never really fell much, landlords lost some of their pricing power during the buying boom of recent years. Now, it appears, with prices still realtively high (a separate Times article notes that sellers are becoming more negotiable) and rates no longer as cheap, more folks are content to sit on the sidelines, which translates into more demand for rentals. This is when owners of two- and three-family brownstones find themselves naturally a bit hedged. While it’s scant consolation if your house is all of a sudden worth $200,000 a month less than it was six months ago, that extra $200 a month of rent doesn’t hurt either. Especially if you’ve got a variable rate mortgage that’s also in the process of ratcheting up. Any landlords out there (or apartment hunters) experiencing this first hand?
Rents Rising Rapidly After Lull [NY Times]
Photo by pdberger.
Williamsburg hasn’t certainly gentrified. But people are wondering what the future of other surrounding areas like Bushwick, and Greenpoint are.
Are people still considering those areas to rent in?
“…..Everything they write is from upper-middle-class white Manhattan perspective. And they aren’t even subtle or apologetic about it….” You are correct. And the reason is that their reporters are upper-middle-class white Manhattanites. They write about what they know.
As a landlord in upper-middle-class white Manhattan, I can see rentals are just about back to to where they were in 2001 — when people had “internet start-up stupid money” to spend on rentals. Funny enough long term interest rates (US Treasury 10 year) are pretty close to where they were then, but shorter rates are a lot higher. So if you financed with an adjustable, your costs are probably higher now. And real estate taxes are probably 50% higher now than in 2001. So even if rents are back up, costs went up a lot faster. Rents would have to go up by 20%, IMHO, before landlords are back to where they were in 2001. But on the other side, their buildings are worth a lot more now…and you have to wonder why.
Regarding Sylvia’s apartment search – isn’t it against the law to refuse to rent to people with children? If she and her family are in all counts eligible for the apartment and refused solely on the basis of their child, can’t they file a discrimination complaint?
I think rents are going to have to go up substantially in order to make the availability increase to anything like a normal market in many parts of Brooklyn. There is just nothing on the market. This is not a healthy market. Not that I’m advocating higher rents. But without the rents meeting the market demand there will be no availability for the foreseeable future. I think that in Manhattan it is a more efficient market because of the abundance of investors and management companies being very actively involved in their bottom line. Small brownstone owners are more interested in getting in nice tenants and not being bothered. But now good tenants are pretty much out of luck if they want to move.
Reminds me of when I was shopping for a 2BR in Williamsburg in late 2000 … it was cutthroat. Definitely a seller’s/landlord’s market.
Just got a call from some pals who are moving back to NYC after a few years away. They want to find a 1BR in Carroll Gardens for $1000 a month … I’m trying to be supportive but sheesh, I think they’re going to have to SERIOUSLY adjust their search parameters.
we decided to look only in williamsburg and man alive was it tough. like no stock at all. open houses were apparently cancelled (no one answered buzzers). we found something only by upping our range greatly (it was naively low).
most brokers weren’t even returning calls. truly nutty out there.
I would also agree rents dipped some several years back but have been on rise for last few and just scanning apt listings – they seem very few recently.
re the NYTimes; Everything they write is from upper-middle-class white Manhattan perspective. And they aren’t even subtle or apologetic about it.
The major demand for housing/ population increases to this city has primarily been from immigration. But the NYtimes focus of new NYers is recent college grads from around the US moving here and their experience finding housing, adapting to NYC. So
when they talk of ‘spill’ from Manhattan it is of ‘Their Crowd’.
actually, my tenants just told me they will probably be moving out within the next couple of months and i was wondering what i could charge. It is a 1 flight walk-up in Fort Greene. Floor through in good condition with lots of original detail. I recently raised the rent to $1800 to offset the massive increase in heating cost, but with my adjustable rate heloc increasing in cost, i’m still paying more than i did last year. given the strength of the rental market and the increasing popularity of FG, i was thinking about $1900. any feedback?
from the NYT article:
“And the demand is spilling into adjacent boroughs, like Brooklyn and Queens”
Spilling? What the hell do they mean by that? Maybe some of the “city” snobs are now willing to grace us with their presence, but I think there has always been demand in Brooklyn. (No, I am not talking about 15-20 years, ago). Now if the author said the Bronx, then I could understand.