The Real Deal today reports that Douglas Ellisman (or as I like to call him Doug E. Fresh) has once gain noted the rental price gains in Brooklyn. And once again, he's defined an area known as "Brownstone Brooklyn" in which Lefferts Gardens is the "cheapest" at $1,250/month for a studio apartment. In many an article that I've noticed, however, people have stopped noting that these figures are NOT for ALL of Brooklyn.
From the article (I'll follow with a bit of Q-analysis):
The last bit about increased inventory stabilizing prices is good news I suppose, particularly to the supply/demand folks who claim more luxury apartments make it cheaper than it would be otherwise. However, I'd like to point out one much overlooked fact. The single biggest way the borough has increased inventory (by the thousands) is by folks like Doug "deciding" that certain neighborhoods are okay for white folk to live in. When they (in concert with the media, notably the NY Times) declared Lefferts safe for white consumption, prices boomed. The demand out there is so intense that by saying it's okay to live there, prices can jump to the cheap rate of $1250 a month for a single room apartment.
I would argue that it is the declaration of neighborhoods as "hot" that adds to inventory, way more than new construction. And I'd add that the declaring of neighborhoods as "hot" creates unnatural desire on the part of the public to live in those neighborhoods, as opposed to Queens or Yonkers or god knows where.
Amazing.
From the article (I'll follow with a bit of Q-analysis):
In Brooklyn, the median rental price in May was $2,800 per month, up 8.6% from $2,579 per month in May of 2013, according to the report.
Brooklyn’s most expensive apartments were two-bedrooms in Dumbo, which had a mean rental price of $5,321 per month, according to MNS’ May rental report, which was also released today. The least expensive apartments were studios in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, with a mean rental price of $1,250 per month.
“The shortage of new inventory in Manhattan (is) impacting Brooklyn,” said Andrew Barrocas, CEO of MNS. “I think the whole tech sector, having a big concentration in Brooklyn, has impacted the rental market and created a lot of demand for rental housing.”
But even as Brooklyn rental prices rose, Miller pointed out that they started to stabilize. Brooklyn’s median rental price of $2,800 per month was $500 less than Manhattan’s median rental price of $3,300 per month in May. In February, the difference was just $210.
In part, that’s thanks to new rental developments and more available inventory in Brooklyn. “There are more options for the consumer, therefore prices don’t rise as fast,” Luciane Serifovic, Elliman’s director of rentals, said. In the borough, inventory rose to 1,546 in May, up 57.3% from 983 a year earlier, according to the Elliman report.
Along with more inventory, landlords are easing up on concessions, according to Citi Habitats’ rental market report, also released today. In May, 7% of transactions included landlord concessions, down from 12% in March, according to the report.
“Landlords’ incentives during the last five months played a role in stabilizing pricing, as well as reducing vacancies,” Gary Malin, president of Citi Habits, said. “They created a sense of urgency for tenants to act where they weren’t acting before.”
"Malin said the numbers are likely to drop further. “Right now, given where vacancies are, the landlords put themselves in a strong position,” he said.First off, Prospect Lefferts Gardens is NOT the cheapest by any stretch of a King County imagination. East Flatbush, Brownsville, East New York and probably Mill Basin, Flatlands and Sheepshead Bay are cheaper. Which means Doug E. only considers certain neighborhoods when making its analyses.
The last bit about increased inventory stabilizing prices is good news I suppose, particularly to the supply/demand folks who claim more luxury apartments make it cheaper than it would be otherwise. However, I'd like to point out one much overlooked fact. The single biggest way the borough has increased inventory (by the thousands) is by folks like Doug "deciding" that certain neighborhoods are okay for white folk to live in. When they (in concert with the media, notably the NY Times) declared Lefferts safe for white consumption, prices boomed. The demand out there is so intense that by saying it's okay to live there, prices can jump to the cheap rate of $1250 a month for a single room apartment.
I would argue that it is the declaration of neighborhoods as "hot" that adds to inventory, way more than new construction. And I'd add that the declaring of neighborhoods as "hot" creates unnatural desire on the part of the public to live in those neighborhoods, as opposed to Queens or Yonkers or god knows where.
Amazing.