Manhattan Market Intelligence

New York City’s Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act went into effect yesterday after a federal judge declined to block its implementation. Passed by the City Council in November 2023 by a 42–8 vote, the law now requires landlords to cover broker fees when they hire an agent — relieving renters of the cost unless they’ve hired a broker themselves.   This marks a major shift in a city where broker fees often run as high as 15% of annual rent. For renters who move f

A few of you responded to last week’s email asking why someone would consider a co-op over a condo, given the challenges with board approvals. Number one, you can usually get a much better price per square foot on a co-op versus a condo . However, there are pros and cons to both. In addition to being less expensive than condos, another benefit of co-ops is they typically have lower closing costs . Yet the flipside is they require a larger down payment and lenders tend to shy

New York’s 2026 state budget introduced a major shift for the city’s housing landscape—the Affordable Housing Retention Act (AHRA), a provision that reopens the door for rental-to-condo conversions under more flexible terms. While the bill is aimed at preserving affordable housing and expanding homeownership, it also holds interesting implications for today’s market dynamics.   At the heart of the AHRA is a return to the pre-2019 rule that allowed landlords to convert rental

Everyone wants a piece of the NYC real estate pie—and many are going to great lengths to get it. For first-time buyers, owning property in the city is no small feat. While the market has always been competitive, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to assess exactly who is buying. Some properties are purchased through LLCs to preserve anonymity, masking key demographic details about who holds the keys to the city.   But one trend is coming into clearer focus: the growing infl