There Haven’t Been This Many Vacant Rentals in Manhattan in 9 Years: Report
(DNAINFO) Amy Zimmer | December 10, 2015 — Apartment vacancies in Manhattan were the highest they’ve been in nine years, according to a report released Thursday by Douglas Ellian.
The vacancy rate hit nearly 2.9 percent in November, up from 2.3 percent a year ago, the report found.
Landlords, in response, have been offering more concessions, like a month’s free rent or the owner paying the broker’s fee, so they don’t have to lower rents.
The share of new rental transactions with concessions rose to 13.5 percent — nearly three times as much 4.8 percent a year ago, the Elliman report noted.
“Rents are still rising,” said real estate expert Jonathan Miller, who wrote the Elliman report. “A lot of that is because landlords are trying to keep up face rent while keeping vacancy down.”