Number of Middle-Class New Yorkers Facing Eviction Skyrockets

All you have to do is walk around the city. Retail has been hit very hard.

NYC is broke, the state is broke, MTA is broke, etc.

 

And you don't think this is the Bush legacy still playing itself out? You think this is the result of stimulus spending? I concede that the stimulus numbers are downright scary, but to think that their effect is negative in the short-term seems fairly misguided. The risks, whatever they may be, lie further out.

 

I didn't fail to acknowledge anything. They (career politician) are all to blame. It appears you have already made your mind up as to who to blame.

 

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090324/FREE/903249973

March 24, 2009 3:46 PM
Big landlord takes hit on falling apt. rents

Equity Residential, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust that owns 47 apartment buildings in the New York area, has chopped charges by nearly 20%.

By Amanda Fung


Declining Manhattan rents are taking a toll on Equity Residential, a large real estate investment trust that owns 47 apartment buildings in the New York metropolitan area.

The Chicago-based REIT appears to be among those most vulnerable to the deteriorating market here, according to Macquarie Research, an investment bank. Equity Residential’s New York City buildings are high-end luxury rentals which draw many of their tenants from Wall Street, where firms are cutting back and employees are suddenly looking to pinch pennies.

Since February alone, Equity Residential has lowered its Manhattan asking rents by an average of 13%, said Michael Levy, an analyst at Macquarie. That reduction came on top of a 15% cut over the previous year.

In a Tuesday research note, he noted that the greatest asking-rent declines took place at Equity Residential's Trump Place buildings on the Upper West Side, where rents fell by an average of 15.5% at 1,325 units. The biggest drops were for studio apartments, where rents were lowered by 19%.

“This is troubling, given our view that Trump Place is Equity Residential’s regional crown jewel,” Mr. Levy wrote in the research note. “In this market we find that the upper-end of the rental market is getting hit harder in terms of having to lower asking rent.”

Properties in the New York metro area contributed 10% of Equity Residential’s net operating income last year according to Macquarie. Half of the company’s units in the region are in Manhattan. During its fourth quarter earnings call, Equity Residential management expressed concerns about the job losses in New York and its impact on the company, noting that results were flat in the New York market for the year.

Last year, the company recorded funds from operation of $2.18 per share on revenues of $2.1 billion, flat from the previous year. Analysts estimate funds from operation will slide to $2.13 per share this year.

“If rents go down, income goes down,” said Peter Von Der Ahe, vice president of investments at Marcus & Millichap. “In New York, building expenses are also up. For REITs, less income and higher expenses mean less cash flow.”

AvalonBay Communities, an Alexandria, Va.-based apartment REIT, is also heavily exposed to the New York market, according to Mr. Levy. Similar to Equity Residential, AvalonBay has properties in New York and other metropolitan areas with a higher concentration of financial-industry tenants than its peers.
Filed Under :

Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate

 

I principally blame the Bush administration for the current situation. I have no idea how Obama's stimulus spending will play itself out. If it genuinely worsens the situation by all objective measures, then I will stand alongside you and point a finger in the same direction. But until then and for now, I will focus on the present and how we got here, rather than speculate on the future.

 

Really

 

I concur. I just don't like that the printing presses are running at full speed.

 

Fair enough. But let me add that I think Obama is genuinely trying to do his best for the country and not play to special interests. And he is doing so with a fairly broad advisory panel rather than in a cloistered vacuum. He may fall flat on his face, but if he does, I think it will have been with the best of intentions. This is far more than I could ever have said about Bush, be it for Iraq, the untendered Halliburton contracts, the inadequately regulated financial sector, FEMA, and so on and so forth...

 

I couldn't agree more that Obama is doing the best he can. I also believe W. did as well. There is always special interests in Washington no matter left or right. Acorn was rewarded in the stimulus.

 

I think Obama and all politicians couldn't give a fuck about any of us.

The fact that you think "Obama is genuinely trying to do his best and not play to special interests" is laughable and shows just how much of the cool-aid you drink. Ever hear of ACORN?

BTW- Why does a Canadian (you) care so much about our politics?