Imagine wanting to ease back into your New York City life after being away for a year. You scan apartment listings and see your old place is available. Sounds like a great coincidence, right?

That’s what happened to many people, like Ranee Soundara, who let her apartment lease lapse during the pandemic, and was hoping to return to the city in October. There was only one problem: The place is “now almost 25 percent more than what I paid last year, which is insane”.

For buildings and neighborhoods with strong demand, rents are on the rise and concessions—like free months and paid broker fees that landlords used to entice renters during the recent slowdown—have evaporated.

Perhaps even more frustrating: Renters say when they tour apartments, they find themselves competing with upwards of 10 other renters—and getting priced out in bidding wars for rentals—a sign of just how competitive this market is.

A major part of the problem is a decrease in available apartments. According to new data from StreetEasy, the number of rentals on the market is the lowest it’s been since the pandemic began in March 2020, with the exception of a blip right after the pandemic started when the city was locked down.

What renters need to keep in mind is that the drop in inventory likely means that the recovery of rental prices will follow shortly—rents are already rising and may surpass pre-pandemic levels soon.

(source: brickunderground.com)