Archive for Manhattan
New York City Rents continue to Climb
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to an analysis of the rental market by Citi Habitats, the average rent in Manhattan is a mind-boggling $3418 a month, surpassing the all-time high set in 2007 during a booming economy.
Tenants are feeling resentful; already staggering from a year or more of rent increases. Many feel trapped, because it is too costly to move or stay. This could cause renters to shift their focus from renting to buying, but that may not be an option for some due to lack of down payment or credit issues.
According to Jonathan J Miller, president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, “When you see rents rising, it is usually reflective of a strong economy, but that is not the case now”. Prices are being driven up by a tight credit market that forces people to stay in the rental market and limits new construction.
Some renters will opt pay more for less – a smaller apartment for less or the same rent they’re paying now. Even so, moving expenses, broker fees and deposits can take even that option off the table. Others are making the decision to share, even putting up temporary walls where allowed and sacrificing a living room.
Even the outer boroughs like Queens and Brooklyn are seeing spikes in the rental prices.
Rental averages are up in every category, with one-bedrooms rising the most, by 6.5 percent over the past year, to $2,747, according to the Citi Habitats report. Studios rose 3.6 percent, to $1,953; two-bedrooms climbed by 6.1 percent, to $3,865; and three-bedrooms rose 4 percent, to $5,107.
There are some exclusions to the average rental price. Since the majority of New York’s rental apartments in Manhattan are rent-regulated in some fashion, they are not included in the average. Also, smaller landlords that do not use brokers would not be included. Renters could find that smaller landlords are more willing to negotiate because they would rather keep a happy tenant with a good payment track record, than to have a vacancy for an extended period of time.
There seem to be few options for renters until developers start to bring more new units to the market, or until another market crash to contain the out of control rents:
- Stay put and try to negotiate or suck it up
- Get a roommate or two
- Move to another rental, neighborhood or town
- Buy
Based on New York Times article.
In the News
Posted by: | Comments4/25/12 ‘Sex and the City’ Townhouse sold for $9.85 million: The home at 64 Perry Street, listed for $9.65 million in early March with sold for $9.85 million, according to city records. Read the full article at The New York Observer
4/26/12 Useful Vocabulary for Building Watchers: Here are a few architectural definitions that anyone who wants fluency in New York architecture will find useful. Read the full story in the New York Times
4/26/12 Prudential Douglas Elliman releases “The Elliman Report: Long Island Sales 1Q 2012”: Mild winter weather brought consumers into the market earlier than usual, causing the number of signed contracts in the Long Island housing market to jump from year ago levels. Housing prices were mixed, as buyers of lower priced properties took advantage of record low mortgage rates. Although properties took slightly longer to sell, listing inventory fell to its lowest first quarter total in six years. Despite the slow improvement in the national economy, we are encouraged by the state of the market in 2012. See the full report
4/26/12: Prudential Douglas Elliman releases “The Elliman Report: Hamptons & North Fork Sales 1Q 2012”: The Hamptons and North Fork housing markets showed stability in both price and sales activity. Just as we have seen in prior quarters, the high end of the market continued to show strength. While it took somewhat longer to sell a typical property this quarter, listing inventory continued to decline. Considering the slow pace of our national economic recovery and tight credit, the East End housing market has continued to hold its own. See the full report
4/27/12: Space Shuttle Enterprise’s Historic Flyover Wow’s New Yorkers: Did you see it? Hundreds of space shuttle shuttle fans braved the chilly temperatures and biting wind Friday Morning along the Hudson River here to catch a glimpse of NASA’s prototype orbiter as it flew past the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum it will soon call home. See the full article on Yahoo! News
4/27/12: Threats, stormy Exits and…: The setting for the closing on an apartment in the East 50s was a lawyer’s office. Things seemed to be going well between the sellers until the wife found out the price her husband had received for the apartment. This is New York City, where real estate transactions can literally take on the trappings of a blood sport. Unlike most other parts of the country, it is a place where lawyers are invariably involved in the transaction; at the very least, this increases the number of people around the table. Read the full article in the New York Times
4/27/12 Brokers See Bright Future for 2012’s Residential Real Estate Market: The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) has released the results of its Residential Brokers Survey for the first quarter of 2012. With the unseasonably warm weather and favorable market conditions, brokers saw an uptick in activity this quarter and are optimistic about next quarter. Of the brokers surveyed, 69 percent reported that they thought the first quarter of 2012 was better than the previous quarter. Additionally, 76 percent of brokers reported that they expect the second quarter of 2012 to be better than the first, a 16 percent increase from last quarter.
Their optimism was based on the improving activity in the market. The survey found that 70 percent of brokers reported completing executed contracts of sale this quarter, a nine percent increase from last quarter. Another highlight from the first quarter of 2012 was that 74 percent of brokers reported closing rental transactions at or above asking prices, which is a 13 percent increase from this time last year. In addition, 26 percent of the brokers reported closing sales at or above asking price, a nine percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2011 and a 4 percent increase from the first quarter 2011.
“Brokers feel changes in the market first and we count on them to help us gauge where the market is headed,” said REBNY President Steven Spinola. “Based on the survey results, it’s clear that broker’s optimism is coming from an improving market and that their view that 2012 will be a strong year for New York City real estate is justified.”
The survey also found a near perfect record of 99 percent of brokers reporting that they received a coop board approval in less than 90 days from the time a completed coop board application was submitted.
Similar to last quarter’s findings the top features/amenities this quarter were: 1) doorman building, 2) laundry in unit, 3) private storage space, and 4) on-site fitness center.
The survey was sent to REBNY’s Residential Broker Members. 404 brokers took the survey this quarter. See the REBNY Q1 2012 Residential Broker’s Survey Results
The Opposite View of the Neighbor’s Windows
Posted by: | CommentsThe building you live in is lovely; the amenities fit your needs. You love your apartment, except… the view from the balcony is less than stellar. Across the courtyard, you see broken windows, torn curtains and water damage. What’s a person to do? 
Well, you could send a letter to the occupant with a check offering to pay for repairs and new curtains, and risk offending the occupant, or you could walk across the courtyard and visit in person. Ask them if they noticed the view from outside their apartment. Maybe they ordered new curtains already, or maybe they’re broke and cannot afford the repairs. Maybe you could offer to help with the repairs if it is within your comfort zone and budget so that you can improve your view. Stay friendly, even if they tell you to mind your own business.
Or, you could just ignore it…
Based on New York Times Article.
In the News
Posted by: | CommentsIn The News
4/16/12 The world’s most expensive one-bedroom condo?: And you think New York Apartments are expensive? A one-bedroom penthouse condo was listed recently in Tokyo for 1.8 Billion yen roughly $22 Million. The apartment is 4,400 square feet and loaded with amenities. Read the full article at Yahoo! Real Estate
4/19/12: Prudential Douglas Elliman Releases Brooklyn Sales Market Report for 1QTR 2012: The Brooklyn market continued to enjoy stabilizing prices and a steady level of new development activity. Mortgage rates dropped to record lows, which helped lower priced co-op sales retain greater market share. Listing inventory fell below the five-year average, in turn tightening the listing discount negotiated between buyers and sellers. Despite the economic challenges facing the region, Brooklyn continued to be one of the better performing housing markets in New York City. Get the report from Prudential Douglas Elliman here.
4/19/12: Prudential Douglas Elliman Releases Queens Sales Market Report for 1QTR 2012: Record low mortgage rates helped create a surge in lower priced co-op sales in the fourth quarter that continued into the new year. This trend combined with the decline in listing inventory has brought some stability to the market. Although prices softened somewhat over the past year due to tight credit and a weak economy, we are encouraged with the progress of the Queens housing market so far this year. Get the report from Prudential Douglas Elliman here.
4/19/12 Rental website Rentenna.com seeking “hottest doorman” in the city: Rentenna.com, a website for locating New York City rental apartments, is sponsoring an unconventional beauty contest, the Wall Street Journal reported — for New York City’s doormen. The start-up began accepting nominations for the city’s most attractive doormen last week, the Journal said, and more than three dozen have been put forward by their tenants so far. Get all the details at The Real Deal
Manhattan Residential Co-op & Condo Sales Market Report First Quarter 2012
Posted by: | CommentsToday, we released our First Quarter report for the Manhattan Residenital Co-op & Condo Sales Market. Manhattan Residential Co-op & Condo Sales Market Overview Q1 2012 reported here and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“Employment conditions have continued to slowly improve, inventory levels have remained modest, and new development stabilized, but tight mortgage underwriting conditions remain a challenge to the market.”
- Median sales price was $775,000, 0.9% below $782,071 in the prior year quarter. Price per square foot increased 6%, and average sales price increased 0.8% over the same period.
- The S&P’s downgrade of US debt, paired with the European debt crisis, Wall Street bonus concerns, and large swings in the stock market indices all contributed to the market’s slowed pace leading into the first quarter. As a result, the number of sales slipped 3.5% to 2,311 from 2,394 in the prior year quarter.
- Active listing inventory slipped 0.6% to 7,560 in the first quarter from 7,605 in the prior year quarter, but remained consistent with the 7,478 quarterly average over the past ten years.
- Days on market—the number of days between the last price change, if any, and the contract date—saw a 25-day increase to 152 days from 127 days as older inventory was sold off.
- Listing discount—the percent difference between the list price at time of sale to the sales price—increased to 6.3% from 4.5% in the same period last year.
Manhattan Co-op/Condo Residential Sales Market Report Third Quarter 2011
Posted by: | CommentsOur Q3 Manhattan Market Overview which was released Tuesday and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
- Housing prices in Manhattan continue to remain stable. The median sales price of a Manhattan apartment was $911,333 in the third quarter, essentially unchanged from $914,000 in the prior year quarter and up 7.2% from $850,000 in the prior quarter.
- Although year-over-year co-op sales activity was unchanged, the increase in condo activity resulted in a 16.7% year-over-year increase in overall sales activity. An increase in demand from foreign buyers due to the weak US dollar is likely a key factor for the gain.
- There were 7,726 active listings at the end of the third quarter, 4.9% fewer than 8,123 listings in the same period last year and 4.3% less than 8,070 listings in the prior quarter.
- Consistent with the decline in inventory, the time to sell an apartment and the discount from list price have also declined. Days on market fell to 119 days from 125 days and the discount from the list price at time of sale slipped to 4.4% from 5.8%, both from the same period last year.
360 East 72nd Street: Working Together For The Benefit All Residents
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Recently I wrote a 3 part series on Coop financial statements. In Part 1, we discussed the General Principles of a Coop Corporation and the Telltale signs of a GOOD Building. Part 2 discussed what to look for in Coop Financials. In Part 3 we look at assessing a Coop’s financial condition.
As I pointed out, Coops seldom conduct a study to determine the remaining useful lives of the building’s systems and major components. Additionally, coops are seldom required (if ever) by their governing documents to accumulate funds in advance of the need of such repairs.
Depending on the size of the building, emergency and unplanned repairs can result in a serious increase in maintenance or special assessments. High maintenance and assessments drive down apartment selling prices.
The board did all of this work without raising maintenance or passing a special assessment.
With an Engineering Systems Report, a 5 year Capital Budget Plan and a culture of working together for the benefit of all residents, 360 East 72nd Street was a rare example of a Coop, thanks to its Board, that took a building with serious problems and rebuilt most of the infrastructure….The board did all of this work without raising maintenance or passing a special assessment.
The Costs:
Brick replacements/balconies $8.5 million
A/C chiller $995,000
Oil tank $213,000
35th floor roof $510,000
Elevators (machinery) $510,000
Elevators (cabs) $170,000
18th Floor roof $249,000
Total $11,600,500
Manhattan Residential Rental Market Report First Quarter 2011
Posted by: | CommentsToday we released First Quarter sales report for the Manhattan residential rental market. Manhattan Residential Rentals Market Overview Q1 2011 reported here and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
- In the first quarter of 2011, 36.8% of rental transactions had a landlord concession.
- The average concession when provided was one full month of free rent.
- The median rental price of a Manhattan property, after considering concessions,
if any, was $2,808, 7.4% higher than $2,616 in the prior year quarter. - There were 25.6% fewer new rental listings available in the first quarter, falling to
3,874 from 5,204 in the same period last year. The amount of new rental inventory
was essentially unchanged from the prior quarter. - Days on market—the number of days from original list date to lease signing—was
40 days, less than half the 86 day average of the prior year quarter.
Manhattan Co-op/Condo Residential Sales Market Report Fourth Quarter 2010
Posted by: | CommentsOur Q4 Survey of Manhattan co-op and condo sales which was released today and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman
Manhattan Co-op/Condo Residential Sales Market Report Third Quarter 2010
Posted by: | CommentsOur Q3 Survey of Manhattan co-op and condo sales which was released today and summarized below was prepared by 
Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman
After three consecutive quarters of double digit declines in year-over-year inventory levels, the pace of the declines appears to be easing. There were 8,123 listings at the end of the third quarter, 3.2% less than 8,389 listings in the prior year quarter and essentially unchanged from the 8,157 listings in the prior quarter.
There were 2,661 sales in the third quarter, 19.3% above 2,230 sales in the prior year quarter, but 3.4% less than 2,756 sales in the prior quarter. With the increase in the number of sales came a shift in the mix of apartment sizes that sold during the period that skewed the price indicators higher.
There was a sharp decline in studio sales to 9% market share from 17% in the same period last year, but a 10% jump in 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom apartments.
Overall price indicators show gains over prior year and prior quarters, and were skewed higher by the shift to a more normal sales mix by size of apartment. The median sales price of a Manhattan apartment was $914,000, 7.5% higher than $850,000 in the prior year quarter and 1.7% above $899,000 in the prior quarter.
Properties sold more quickly in the quarter than during the same period last year. The average days on market—the number of days between the last change in list price, if any, to the contract date—was 125 days or 42 days faster than 167 days last year.
Sellers were more in sync with market value this quarter. Listing discount—the percentage difference between the list price at time of contract to the contract price—fell to 5.8% from 7.6% in the prior year quarter.
Manhattan Residential Rental Market Report Second Quarter 2010
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Our Q2 Manhattan Rental Market Overview which was released today and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman
- The average rental price of a Manhattan apartment fell 3.3% to $3,710 per month from $3,839 in the same period last year. This was caused by the drop in the average size of a rental this quarter.
- Rental price per square foot increased 12.3% to $49.60 from $44.16 over the same period due to the higher price per square foot skew seen in smaller apartments.
- There were 5,659 rentals in the second quarter, more than double the level of activity during the same period last year. As a result of the surge in rental activity, listing inventory fell 31.8% to 4,972 units from 7,290 units over the same period.
- Days on market fell by one month to 53 days in the second quarter from 83 days in the prior year quarter as the higher level of rental activity and declining inventory reduced the marketing time of rental apartments.
- The discount between original list price and contract list price fell to 1.8% the lowest since the “Lehman tipping point” in 2008 as listing inventory fell sharply and landlords began to reduce their reliance on concessions.
Manhattan 2000-2009 Residential Sales and Market Anlaysis
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Approximately 92,000 co-op and condo sales transactions from more than 6,500 buildings over the last ten years were analyzed. Each of the 53 different market areas have been presented with data tables and charts as well as a summary matrix that compare 2009 to the prior year (2008) and prior decade (2000).
- After setting records in 2008, all three price indicators declined in 2009. This is the first time that any of the three price indicators have posted year-over-year declines since 1996.
- The 2009 median sales price of a Manhattan apartment was $850,000, down 11% from the record set in 2008 at $955,000
- Manhattan housing prices have doubled over the past decade. Price per square foot increased 105.6% to $1,073 from $522 in 2000.
- There were 7,430 sales in 2009, 27.9% fewer than were sold in 2008. However, the release of pent-up demand from the first half of 2009 caused the second half to see a surge in sales activity.
- The annualized pace of sales in the second half of 2009 was 9,400 units, higher than the 9,178 average annual number of sales over the last decade.
- There were 6,851 listings on the market at the end of 2009, 24.6% less than 9,081 listings in 2008, which was the highest level of inventory in the past decade. The 2009 inventory level was in line with the 6,860 average annual inventory level since 2000.
- Over the past decade, the Manhattan condo market has surpassed the co-op market in sales, beginning with a 40% market share and ending with a 54% market share. The gain was primarily due to the addition of new development sales to the housing stock.
The 2000-2009 Manhattan Market Report relaeased today and summarized above was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Q4 Manhattan Residential Rental Report
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Recently the industry has reported data on fourth quarter rentals for the Manhattan residential market. The Q4 Manhattan Rental Market Overview reported here and summarized below was prepared by Miller Samuel for Prudential Douglas Elliman.
- Average rental price declined 4.3% to $3,789 from $3,958 the same period last year but up 0.8% from $3,759 the prior quarter.
- Rental price per square foot declined 4.6% to $47.02 per square foot from $49.30 per square foot during the same period last year, and down 1.7% from $47.84 per square foot in the prior quarter.
- Median rental price declined 9.4% to $2,900 from $3,200 in the same period last year and down 1.7% from $2,950 in the prior quarter.
- Number of rentals surged 47.5% to 2,456 units from 1,665 units in the prior year quarter.
- Listing inventory fell 21.3% to 5,225 units from 6,640 units in the prior year quarter.
- Days on market were 76 days, down from 97 days this time last year.
- Listing discount was 6.5%, down from 6.9% in the same period last year.
The reports do not account for the incentives (concessions) that tenants are frequently offered in the current market, like months of free rent or waived brokers’ fees. It is worth noting that that if those factors had been taken into consideration, rents could appear considerably lower. Perhaps as high as 10% lower.
Experts remain cautiously optimistic about this year as the unemployment rate, which has a huge impact on the rental market, remains high. ”We are looking for more of the same in the first half of 2010–stable activity and pricing,” Mr. Miller said.
Jonathan Miller’s pod cast discussing the Q4 Manhattan Market Overview can be heard here.
In addition, reporting and analysis of the Q4 Rental Market Survey were consolidated on the Miller Samuel website and shown below.
01/14/2010 PR Newswire Prudential Douglas Elliman 4th Quarter 2009 Manhattan Rental Market Overview
01/14/2010 Earth Times Prudential Douglas Elliman 4th Quarter 2009 Manhattan Rental Market Overview
01/14/2010 Business Week Manhattan Apartment Rents Drop 9.4% as City Job Losses Mount
01/14/2010 Bloomberg.com Manhattan Apartment Rents Drop 9.4% as City Job Losses Mount
01/14/2010 TheStreet.com Prudential Douglas Elliman 4th Quarter 2009 Manhattan Rental Market Overview
01/14/2010 The Real Deal Manhattan rental deals up in 4Q: reports
01/14/2010 Yahoo Finance Prudential Douglas Elliman 4th Quarter 2009 Manhattan Rental Market Overview
01/14/2010 Fox Business Prudential Douglas Elliman 4th Quarter 2009 Manhattan Rental Market Overview
In addition to the Prudential Douglas Elliman report, some of the above articles refer to the Citi Habitats Q4 Market report.
