The
percentage of vacant apartments in suburban areas averaged a healthy 4.2 percent in the first quarter, up just slightly from 4.0 percent the year before.
As the percentage
of vacant apartments creeps higher in cities and towns across the country, more property managers are offering months of free rent to potential residents to get them to sign leases.
Landlords are able to increase the
rent of vacant apartments by 20 percent and can make improvement to boost the rent further.
«We are asking that [DHCR] delay granting any increase until it determines if a violation occurred and to disallow any increase to cover the
cost of the vacant apartments,» Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, state Sen. Daniel Squadron, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Councilwoman Margaret Chin wrote in a letter to DHCR.
As Dahlia learns more about the
residents of the vacant apartment, she starts questioning her own sanity as well as that of Ceci, who has a new imaginary friend who knows things she shouldn't know.
The percentage
of vacant apartments stayed incredibly low in the first quarter, as cold weather delayed a confrontation between growing supply and growing demand.
The percentage
of vacant apartments in downtown sub-markets averaged 6.3 percent in the first quarter, according to data firm Reis Inc..
Strong demand for apartments helped keep the percentage
of vacant apartments low, even though developers finished many new apartments in 2014...
Top analysts expect there to be a few more vacant apartments by the end of 2014, but strong demand will keep the percentage
of vacant apartments compared to overall stock very low for a very long time...
Despite this, the percentage
of vacant apartments remains stubbornly low: in five of the six markets, the vacancy rate ranges from 2.0 percent to 3.0 percent.
And the
rate of vacant apartments has grown from 3.8 percent to 6.2 percent in the last year in downtown, and from 5.3 percent to 6.7 in South Lake Union, giving renters more options and negotiating power.»
As the percentage
of vacant apartments creeps upwards towards 5 percent on average across the country, many industry experts worry about overbuilding and potentially falling rents.
MPF's forecast for 2015 called for occupancy at the end of the first quarter the
percentage of vacant apartments to rise by about 40 basis points, and for rents to keep growing, but less quickly than last years, at an average rate of about 3.6 percent to 3.9 percent a year.
The percentage
of vacant apartments has begun to creep upwards, though it's still well under 5.0 percent on average in the U.S., according to most apartment researchers.
So far, the percentage
of vacant apartments has stayed well below 5 percent on average nationwide, though it has crept upwards into the mid-4-percent range, according to leading data firms.
As a flood of new apartment developments opens and the percentage
of vacant apartments has started to rise, banks are refusing to lend to weak deals and are lending less on the stronger deals.