It’s beginning to look a lot like Xmas: Everywhere you go, there’s a troubled boutique hotel, retail is hurt as well, and office rents are sliding past their lows (yes, it’s a real estate sing-along).
… Yet the office market is nothing to sing about, except maybe for tenants who are now negotiating contracts with one year of free rent as normal course.
- Rents: September asking rents fell to $50.78 from $51.28/sq.ft., as per CBRE data, now down almost 30% from July ’08 peak prices of $71.92/sq.ft.
- Volume: Further, leasing volume dropped 19% from the previous month and 21% from the previous year.
- Inventory: To top it off, availability rates increased to 14.2% for Manhattan overall: downtown fared best with a mere 11.8% of space available for leasing over the next 12 months.
The silver lining is that some submarkets in the Midtown posted actual increases in asking rents … by a quarter ($0.25) to $64.08. Feel the warmth of the season.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounded like a bit of holiday pessimism from a generally upbeat apple lady, so I opted to brighten things up a bit for you and hopefully swing your mood to one that puts a smile back on your face in the anticipation of a strong 2010!
***A HONEYCRISP XMAS SONG***
I’M DREAMING OF MORE CLOSED LISTINGS
JUST LIKE THE ONES I USED TO SELL
WHERE THE BUYERS PURCHASED
AND SELLERS WAITED
TO HEAR LOAN DOCS ALL ARE SIGNED
I’M HOPING FOR SHORT SALE TIMES
FOR EVERY CONDO THAT I LIST
MAY MY FEES BE PLENTY AND HIGH
AND MAY ALL THE BUYERS BE GOLD
I’M HOPING FOR MORE LOW LOAN RATES
FOR EVERY PERSON I CAN SELL
SO THE BUYERS CAN FINANCE ALL THEIR NEW HOMES
AND THE SELLERS ALL WALK AWAY HAPPY
Wow, Anonymous … That is just TOO cute! And well, written, too … it’s making me think we should create … I’ve GOT it! In a week or two, you will see a post here and I guarantee you’ll know it was based on inspiration from you
(As for the pessimism, it’s more towards the commercial space – we’re more optimistic about the residential side)
Thanks so much for your post!
Honeycrisp you flatter me … will keep an eye out for your post that was inspired by me.
(I understood that your pessimism was aimed towards commercial space, but being I am part of the commercial side, I wanted to inject some positive vibes towards it)
New Christmas Carol
Oh the rents for the owners are frightful,
But if you’re a renter, then they’re delightful.
So, if you have got the dough
It’s time to go, time to go, time to go (to NYC)
It doesn’t show signs of pausing,
So we’ll call Ana and Marie for shopping,
The prices are way down low,
It’s time to go, time to go, time to go (to NYC)