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Apartments -
NYC Real Estate News
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Tuesday, 30 November 1999 00:00 |
All across NYC, renters are dealing with the rising cost of rent. Many renters have seen their rent go up by as much as 15%. The rising cost of energy isn't making matters any easier.
Landlords cover the cost of heating, but with heating oil expected to double or triple this winter, it's only going to make matters worse as landlords pressure the rent stabilization boards to increase rents even further. With rental prices going up faster than salaries in NYC, many New Yorkers are having to digger deeper into their pockets to cover their bills. Many are opting to move to even smaller apartments or cope with a longer commute. Landlords don't seem sympathetic, claiming that they can get 20% more rent if they put the apartment on the market. In many cases people are just moving across the street to avoid rent increases in their building.
Sarah Miller is moving out of her $4,000 rental, which she shares with her roommate, because her landlord has raised the rent to $4,400. She is moving to another 2 bedroom 3 blocks away, which is $3,600, but doesn't have a nice view. She's doesn't understand why she can find a comparable apartment for far less, yet her landlord is increasing the rent for her apartment by 10%. That's the irony of NYC real estate. An apartment can rent for 20% less than one fairly similar to it in the same neighborhood.
Many New Yorkers wonder how people get by paying these astronomical rent prices, but the average person living in Manhattan makes $70,000 a year, so there is an argument to be said that prices are actually reasonable. Not much comfort for people that living paycheck to paycheck and seeing their housing costs eat up more than half their paychecks.
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