We're still making fun of people for moving to Brooklyn, but we're eating rice and pinto beans five times a week for the privilege: according to a report released by New York City's largest real estate firm, Manhattan rents went up in January, a time when you can typically count on snagging a deal. "While a few more landlords used incentives to attract clientele…building owners were able to charge more than they did during December, which is unusual for this time of year," Citi Habitats president Gary Malin says in a release. Malin is more blunt speaking to the Times: "Everything at this point is going in landlords' favor."
The report notes that rent for the average Manhattan apartment rose 5% compared to last year, to $3352, despite a slight increase in overall vacancy. If you want a studio in Chelsea, be prepared to shell out $2,491 (and also, are you single?). A studio in the lovely Midtown West will cost you $2211, a record high.
And you can partially blame Frank Gehry's shiny building that you will never, ever live in for jacking up rents in the Financial District. Because those apartments fetch obscenely high rental prices, "it allows us essentially to start raising rents across the board," a totally not-gleeful sounding executive at another firm says.
Suggestions for keeping your landlord from raising rent: baked goods, not leaving a trail of ooze down the stairs when you take out the trash, and blackmailing him about that weird thing he does with his cockatiel on Wednesday nights.
