Manhattan and Brooklyn Rental Market for October: Prices Up, Availability Down
From the confirming what you already know department: Manhattan and Brooklyn rental apartments are pricey, scarce.
Every month I say the same thing, because every month the only thing to say is the same thing: Manhattan rental apartments, and Brooklyn rental apartments, continue to go up in price, landlords continue to enjoy low vacancy rates, and concessions are few and far between.
On average, it’s true across the board, in every neighborhood, in every size apartment, but there are certain types of rental apartments, that are even more difficult to find at bargain prices than others.
For example, Manhattan rental apartments in such in-demand neighborhoods as Tribeca, the West Village, and Soho continue to be put on the market at ever-rising prices, and continue to be snatched up that same day. And it’s the larger apartments, especially the Manhattan two-bedroom rental apartments, that are the hardest to find, and, thus, the most expensive.
A recent report stated that multi-bedroom rental apartments make up only 36% of the Brooklyn and Manhattan rental markets, and it shows in the price: in a doorman building in Manhattan, a two-bedroom rental apartment averages nearly $5,900 a month. Non-doorman Manhattan two-bedroom rental apartments are a little less jaw-dropping, averaging just over $4,200 a month.
In Brooklyn, the story’s even more dramatic. In the past thirteen months, the average price of a Brooklyn two-bedroom rental apartment has skyrocketed, from a shade over $2,600 to almost $2,900. Yes, that’s a lot less expensive than your average Manhattan two-bedroom rental apartment–and, some would say, it’s located in the better borough–but still, that is not an inconsiderable amount of money.
Brooklyn one-bedroom rental apartments have also jumped in price this past year-plus, averaging less than $2,100 thirteen months ago, and $2,300 today. What does this mean for you? Well, for one thing it means that you have to be ready to that same day when you DO find a great apartment within your budget, because nothing’s staying available these days for too long.
Also, it’s more important than ever to find a genuinely no-fee Manhattan or Brooklyn rental apartment–which is to say, all of the apartments listed on Urban Edge–which will save you thousands of dollars right from the start.
Based on our own data at Urban Edge, it appears that the market might be softening slightly over the past couple of weeks, although the next two months (November and December) are always the slowest times of the year in rentals–so that’s not entirely surprising.
We are seeing some buildings, in certain neighborhoods (even Manhattan), offering a free month of rent and/or paying the broker fee–something they weren’t doing a month ago. If you have the flexibility to move over the holidays, now might be your best chance to get rental before prices start creeping up again in 2012.
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