Despite Concerns Over Housing Market, Rents in Financial District Continue to Remain Competitive

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite concerns about the health of the economy and housing market, the Financial District (FiDi) continued to thrive last year as one of the city's most popular and fastest evolving neighborhoods for apartment renters, with a majority opting to live in either studio or one-bedroom apartments.

This is just one of the conclusions of The FiDi Report, a year-to-year analysis of luxury apartment rental trends in the city's Financial District, which was prepared by Platinum Properties, one of downtown's preeminent residential brokerage firms.

According to the year-end report, which did not incorporate landlord concessions in its rental rate figures, a luxury rental studio in the Financial District averaged $2,453.08 in 2008 -- a slight jump of 6.69% over the previous year's figure of $2,299.21 -- while studio apartments with home offices averaged $2,980.63, showing gains of 6.14%. Meanwhile, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in the area showed modest rent increases averaging $3,163.93 and $4,419.45, or slight climbs of 3.45% and 3.26%, respectively.

"In 2008, rents were able to remain fairly steady when compared to average rental prices in 2007, due to the fact that incentives offered at many luxury rental buildings in the area were at an all-time high," said Daniel Hedaya, Platinum's Director of Leasing & Management who researched and prepared The FiDi Report. "This was a year in which many landlords, in order to keep vacancy rates low, were willing to negotiate with renters and offer them between one and three months' free rent, in addition to other incentives such as waiving the security deposit, owner-paid broker fees, and complimentary moving services."

In addition to concessions, notes Khashy Eyn, Platinum's President and CEO, downtown's rent increases can also be attributed to the larger volume of luxury units on the market, as several new and converted rental buildings, including 20 Exchange Place and 95 Wall Street, began leasing in 2008.

"To keep rents competitive with other popular markets such as Murray Hill, Midtown or the Upper East and West Sides," he said, "we've seen many landlords and building owners offering more selective amenities from fully-equipped gyms to concierge services, which you'd typically expect from a condominium, not a rental." Coupled with easily accessible public transportation, the rental market downtown is also being driven by a number of factors including the ongoing influx of diverse retailers like Hermes, Canali, Tiffany's and Tumi, in addition to great restaurants and service-oriented businesses.

Other interesting findings contained in The FiDi Report (http://www.platinumpropertiesnyc.com/files/The_FiDi_Report.pdf) for 2008 include the following:

    --  In 2008, there was an influx of new development which brought over 1200
        units on the market.  As a result, FiDi experienced an increase in the
        average size of rental apartments - the most of which was demonstrated
        in studio units which offered almost 10% more space than in 2007.
    --  Despite the surge in new development, the FiDi vacancy rate remained
        modest at 2.28% compared to 1.8% in 2007.
    --  The rental market downtown saw the most demand for studio and
        one-bedroom units, which accounted for nearly 70% of the 1,418 leasing
        transactions surveyed in this report.
    --  While the average rent changed most dramatically in studio apartments,
        with a 6.69% increase in price, two-bedroom units experienced a modest
        climb of 3.26% averaging $4,419.45.
    --  The best FiDi value was in the studio with home office category, which
        offered an average of 688 square feet of living space and rented at
        $51.97 per square foot.  The highest rent per square foot ($55.22) was
        in the one-bedroom category which averaged 687.6 square feet.

Additional Notes for Renters

    --  Renters who opted to live in either studio or two-bedroom apartments in
        FiDi received incredible deals, as the average price per square foot
        showed significant declines.
    --  Toward the fourth quarter of 2008, developers and landlords began
        offering more incentives than the market had seen in the first three
        quarters, in some cases offering an additional month's rent for
        free or short-term leases in order to decrease vacancies.  In 2009,
        renters can expect to see more no-fee apartments emerge on the market,
        in addition to complimentary storage space and free months of rent.

Established in 2005, Platinum Properties is a Wall Street-based real estate services firm with a steadily growing sales staff of more than two dozen street savvy agents that average 25 years of age. Led by CEO and President Khashy Eyn, who honed his skills at leadingManhattan real estate firms before launching the Platinum brand, the family-owned business continues to enjoy steady growth. Platinum represented the buyers on some of the City's most notable residential transactions, including the $33.7 million sale of the final three penthouse units at Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza, and $7.82 million sale of the most expensive single residential unit in the Financial District at The Setai,New York.

SOURCE Platinum Properties

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