Beleaguered renters in New York City may begin to see some relief to rising rents as the year progresses. Market analysts are watching rents plateau and developers increasing incentives to lure tenants into all the new properties that are completed and now leasing.
Market participants are reporting that landlords have had to offer more to attract tenants, including paying brokers’ fees on their behalf or waiving a month or two of rent. However, evidence indicates that concessions are not achieving the result of steady rentals and that rental rates will begin to fall.
“In many parts of the city rents will fall,” said Grant Long senior economist at the real estate listing site StreetEasy. “There’s a lot of new rental housing, and landlords are having to compete against each other and offer concessions, and inevitably cut the headline rents that they offer to folks. … And after a long period of increases that lasted over seven years, people are largely at the limit of what they’re willing to pay.”
But Jonathan Miller, president of the Miller Samuel appraisal firm, noted most of the new developments skew higher end, which means the benefits of increased competition are not as likely to trickle down to less-expensive units. “With a growing population and job growth, there’s much more price pressure on the lower half of the market,” Miller said.
