Price Inflation Watch: Average NYC Rent Passes $3,000

The average rent in NYC last quarter was $3,017 a month, according to Reis Inc.

According to Reuters, the average New York rent was more than 50 percent higher than second-place San Francisco, where rent grew 1.1 percent from the first quarter to $1,998.82. Oklahoma City was the cheapest market, at an average of $571.03 a month, up 0.6 percent. The national average is $1,062.

With few apartments up for grabs in NYC, brokers are urging prospective tenants to carry financial paperwork with them to showings and to make a decision quickly, reports WSJ.

From WSJ:

"I haven't met a single client who hasn't lost at least one or two rentals because they waited too long to decide," said Ed Azrilyan, owner of Chartwell F.H. Realty in Queens.

After a showing, "I take them to show another property, [and] we're wondering if it won't be rented by the time we get back; there's no time to mull things over in this hot rental market," he said.

I am hearing similar reports in parts on the greater San Francisco bay area. Prospective tenants are showing up at rentals with financial documents in hand.   


The desire to hold cash balances is clearly declining. WSJ again:

After the financial crisis, desperate landlords cut rents and paid broker fees to fill units. But those days are long gone: Mr. Azrilyan charges some who rent an apartment he finds a fee equivalent to one month of rent.