Will those bargain NYC rents go up next year?

I said I didn’t have a crystal ball!

So clearly a lot has happened since we last spoke.

Currently it is a renter’s market the likes of which has not been seen in years.

So why is getting the perfect place a challenge?

The prices may be lower but the system is the same. Landlords have gotten choosier. While the rents may be lower they are still looking for well qualified tenants with good credit and qualifying income.

Then there are the CRAZY pricing schemes. I actually saw a place that has a two year lease, with a 500 dollar jump. Where do you go when you are at the bottom of pricing? One of the thing that makes clients crazy is a lot of net effective pricing. That means the landlord is discounting the rent by averaging in free months, and the regular rent. Some landlords are beginning to average this over a 12 month basis which has historically been rare.

Tenants looking for long term stability wonder what the catch is. The truth is nobody knows what will happen in a year. People are coming back to the city for sure, but are they outpacing the inventory coming on the market?

The one little nugget is that we are going in to a time of year that less inventory came on the market, for the next few months fewer leases expire. That should slow the rush of apartments on to the market. For now if you are looking to rent, realize those free months are a chance to save, invest, even vacation. Try to budget to the gross rent and you will be sitting pretty no matter what.