The Upper West Side and the Upper East Side are playing Switcheroo when it comes to the most in-demand Manhattan neighborhood with renters. At the beginning of September, the Upper West Side grabbed back the number 1 spot, and the Upper East Side had to settle for second place, according to data from an apartment listings website. West Village, Greenwich Village and Soho rounded out the top five.
Renters asked brokers the most about one-bedroom apartments – 35 percent. And their median rent inquiry: $2,500 a month. Right behind were two-bedrooms with 30 percent and $2,800. Studios, last week’s winner, had 24 percent and $1,670. Median prices increased across all unit types.
Over the summer, Midtown was the most in-demand neighborhood for tenants looking for a rental apartment in Manhattan, the data revealed. Midtown’s popularity seems to coincide with a lot of the professionals relocating to New York City who want to be close to work.
Rounding out the top five neighborhoods getting the most heat were, in order:
- the West Village
- the Upper East Side
- the East Village
- and Harlem
Harlem’s popularity shows that renters priced out of some of the usually popular neighborhoods are now looking at other areas.
In terms of unit types, one-bedroom apartments were the most popular for the third consecutive week, comprising almost 55.2 percent of renter inquiries to brokers. The median rent query was for $2,650 per month. One-bedrooms had 55.8 percent of renter queries.
Two-bedroom apartments trailed with 31 percent, with a median rent inquiry of $3,200. Studios and three-bedrooms had 10.3 percent and nearly 3.5 percent of leads, with a median inquiry of $2,000 and $3,000, respectively.
The most popular times during the day for renters to search for listings is between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., followed by 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Finding an apartment is so important to renters that many are taking breaks at work to check on new listings. This info is useful for helping agents and landlords know when are the optimal times to post new listings or get in touch with renters.
One-bedroom apartments had the largest share – 46 percent – of renter inquiries to brokers. The median rent inquiry was $2,000 a month. Three-bedrooms saw 27 percent of the lead and a median inquiry of $4,075 per month, the data shows.
