Winter in New York City often enjoys a cooler real estate market, but not this year.
Renters in Manhattan were met with record-high rents in February, with a median rent of $4,500 — a 6.4% uptick from the same time last year. Prices also rose in Brooklyn and Queens as vacancy rates tightened, a new report from Douglas Elliman revealed.
Everyone, from renters to agents, is feeling the heat.
“The fact is, there’s not a lot of room to negotiate,” Douglas Wagner, BOND New York’s director of brokerage services, told The Post.
The early bird no longer gets the worm when it comes to applications, either.
It’s all about who can offer more, according to Laurel Ferrera, an agent at Keller Williams NYC. Units are advertising at low prices to whip up interest, Ferrera said in an email, and then taking as many applications as possible.
“A place on the Upper West Side that was initially marketed at $3,700 for a one bed, one bath ended up being rented for $800 above asking,” Ferrera wrote. “The agent told me, ‘The people who got their apartment [are] willing to go higher if needed.’”
A quarter of Manhattan deals in February sparked bidding wars, the Elliman report found, also marking a record high. Experts blame the increased competition, in part, on an uncertain economy, skittish homebuyers and back-to-office mandates.
Ferrera’s recent client, Alex K. — who didn’t reveal her full name for privacy — thought starting her apartment search in February would give her the upper hand. She was quickly disabused of that theory.
“I’d always heard that winter is a lot easier to find places,” she told the Post. “But everybody just seems to want to come back to the city now.”
Alex, who is moving from California to New York for work, said she and Ferrara looked as more than a dozen apartments across Brooklyn and Manhattan. In the process, she ended up in four separate bidding wars.
One of the bid-upon units was a Cobble Hill one-bedroom that, Alex said, someone else ended up paying $800 above the asking price for.
“I’m sure some people have dual incomes, but it’s just me, and I can’t compete with that,” Alex said.
The Elliman report found February’s Brooklyn listings had even fiercer competition than Manhattan, with 35% of deals resulting in bidding wars.
Compared to Manhattan and Brooklyn, housing inventory in Northwest Queens saw a generous increase. The 103% uptick in available listings in February may have contributed to a higher rate of the borough’s landlords willing to make concessions, eager to attract choosier tenants. Still, bidding wars were documented in a fifth of all deals in Queens.
The Elliman analysis also documented a faster rise in the median rent of non-doorman buildings than doorman buildings. Wagner said he has noticed renters aspiring to more outfitted, upgraded apartments, and he said they’re willing to give up an amenity, like a doorman, to get those features.
“If the non-doorman apartment is well-equipped, and there’s a washer-dryer in the apartment, and the rooms are not tiny, it makes a huge difference,” Wagner said. “People will maybe give up the idea of a doorman and a health club to save a little bit of money, if they can get something better than an Easy Bake kitchen.”
If an apartment today is equipped well and priced well, Wagner said, there will be a line out the door.
Wagner predicts an even hotter summer for the market, with prices remaining high and units staying competitive. He advised those looking for better value to consider looking outside the city’s prime locations, like Southern Brooklyn or Eastern Queens.
After fighting their way through the bidding wars, Alex K. and her broker Ferrera eventually found the perfect place in Gramercy. In order to snag it, Alex K. offered the owners $400 over its asking price, landing her right at her max budget of $4,000.
“I saw it on StreetEasy, I was like, ‘I feel like that’s my place,’” she said.
Her bid won out over nine other offers, gaining her a two-year lease at the co-op building, which comes with a live-in super and a community garden.
“I got a great place. It’s a good location for my first couple years in New York,” she said. “And I love the place, I love the owner. So I got really lucky.