Real estate madness drives New Yorkers out of Manhattan

Yanis Berbelis, owner of a Greek restaurant that had been open for 30 years in Manhattan, was forced to close it in the fall when the owner of the premises raised his rent to $39,000 a month (he was paying $20,000 until then). Thanks to a colleague from the neighborhood, who gives him the facilities of his restaurant at night, Berbelis maintains his business by giving dinners, in exchange for a much more sensible rent.

Alex, owner of a marijuana derivatives store, struggles to raise the $50,000 monthly rent for the premises, in front of Madison Square Garden. In the building where the tenant Berbelis prepares musakas, by the way, a two-bedroom apartment is currently being rented for $7,000 a month, above the average residential rent in the city, which is around $4,000 for a one-bedroom home. (in July and August it reached $4,200) and $5,500 for two rooms, according to the RentHop portal. In the circles of acquaintances it is common to hear about residential rent increases of up to $1,500. Suddenly and without anesthesia.

The inflation that heated up the economy red hot last year has left an indelible mark on rents. The famine is causing a population exodus greater than that induced by the pandemic, while the inhabitants of social housing default on payments and have left the competent body, municipally owned, on the verge of bankruptcy: collection fell to 65% in 2022 , a record low for the agency. Living in New York is suffering, both in the free rental market —the largest in the US— and in the protected one, which only houses one in 16 New Yorkers.

Suitability casting

If the cost is added to the casting of suitability to which the tenant candidate is subjected by the community of owners, finding a house in New York is a challenge. Avoid Manhattan; migrating to the outskirts, despite the extra cost in time and money involved in traveling, to the other side of the Hudson River, in New Jersey, with the added complication of moving… The truth is that the number of new rental contracts signed in November it plummeted 39% compared to October, which is the biggest drop since the start of the pandemic. The goose that lays the golden eggs that for years has been the competition between tenants to get a managed apartment —for rent and in good condition— may be about to run out, real estate agencies warn landlords.

Renting in New York is an extreme manifestation of the fierce struggle of species for resources, the law of the jungle in a landscape of skyscrapers. Unless one is part of the crowd of billionaires on Park Avenue or 57th Street, the new epicenter of residential luxury, they will only have the option of kicking: participating in the survey that elects the worst landlord in the Big Apple every year. No joke: the list is then published on the website of the city ombudsman.

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