The cost of a Manhattan rental apartment climbed to a median price of $3,125 per month in the second quarter of 2012, a new report shows. At the same time, more units came on the market, but the increased inventory isn’t necessarily good news for renters.
“The rise in inventory is a phenomenon created by people vacating their units when presented with a significant rent increase,” said Jonathan Miller, president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel and author of Elliman’s report. “Technically it’s happening, but the property becomes available for a short period of time and is snapped up.”
In June, the vacancy rate increased to 1.01 percent, according to a similar report from Citi Habitats released today. That’s still tiny, but significantly higher than it was last June, when vacant units made up just 0.69 percent of the market, the report says. The vacancy rate was 0.97 percent in the second quarter overall.
As spring leases came up for renewal, many apartment dwellers faced a double-barreled rent hike, noted Mark Menendez, Elliman’s director of rentals.
Landlords are not only raising the rent to match the market, they are also largely refusing to renew concessions, such as a free month’s rent, that were still prevalent at this time a year ago, he said. (Only 3.7 percent of apartments came with concessions in the second quarter, the Elliman report says.)
Inndeed, Manhattan tenants renewing two-year leases in June faced a 12.8 percent rent increase on average, translating to about $423 per month, according to a June rental report from the brokerage MNS released today.
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