Exactly How Much Did a Doorman Cost You in August, 2008?

…and how much can you save living in a walk-up? The price of apartments in new development buildings with doormen actually rose slightly in relation to the statistics from June.

Manhattan Vacancy Rates By Neighborhood: August 2008

West Village bucking the trend, with a vacancy rate hovering around 50%. Vacancy highest in the UWS, unsurprisingly the vacancy rate in the Financial District and BPC is also higher than May.

See also: Manhattan vacancy rates by neighborhood, June 2008

Manhattan Vacancy Rates Continue to Rise.

Manhattan is still a place where people want to live and where many people have to live because of their jobs. In the late 1990’s, vacancies hovered around 4%, and anything under 5% is still considered to be an extremely tight market. We’ve all gotten used to a frenzied, feverish tone being attached to all things real estate, whether the market’s going up or going down. On this chart we can see the gradual and steady rise of vacancies since May. Anyone think we’re gonna hit 4% by the middle of winter?

See also: Manhattan Rental Market Vacancies, June 2008

How Does Your Rent Compare? Citi Habitats Releases August Rental Market Report

Gloom! Doom! Etc, etc. Vacancies are up, apartments are sitting on the market longer and renters are being offered ever more incentives to sign on the dotted line. The higher end of the market is definitely the most negatively affected by the economic slowdown and the problems on Wall Street, so it’s no surprise that the Financial District and Battery Park City are currently the best neighborhoods to cash in on landlord-offered incentives like a free month’s rent and no broker’s fee. Units that are priced competitively in relation to market conditions, apartments that are located in  desirable neighborhoods like the West Village or are exceptionally renovated are moving as quickly as ever. Now, on to the charts! When compared to the chart of average rents in June, the table below shows some contraction in the one-,two-, and four-bedroom categories, but a small increase in the price of three-bedrooms.

East Village Snapshot

Luxury Rentals = Gated Communities?

This past weekend the NY Observer made the assertion that luxury high-rise rentals are the NYC version of suburban gated communities. Private, privileged, serene, staffed; some buildings do seem to offer the New York version of the house with a lawn, garage and pool in the backyard but at a price. Read the full article here.

“The Hunt”: NY Times Features Renter’s Apartment Search

This past weekend’s edition of the NY Times “The Hunt” column reported on the apartment search of Adam Cunningham. Relocating from California, Adam experienced several issues that will be familiar to the many people who move to NYC: the pressure of having a limited amount of time for their search, the unfamiliarity with the NY market, and the difficulty of planning ahead by trying to look more than a month in advance of their desired move-in date. Read the full article about how Adam found his dream New York apartment with only two days to look!