The story of rent in Manhattan is an oft-told tale on New Construction Manhattan, but while most realtors agree that the rental market will remain strong, one firm predicted in a recent report that rents could rise by as much as 10% in 2012. And with rental inventory at 1.3% vacancy and landlords raising their prices, many New Yorkers, particularly younger ones who traditionally rent, have begun looking at apartments to buy.

The recent slowdown in the Manhattan sales market is on the way out. Despite the fact that sales have been way down in the past two financial quarters, buyers of luxury apartments in Manhattansigned 871 contracts in February. This strong showing exceeds pre-Lehman market activity in 2008, and it shows just how far we’ve come – at the nadir of the sales market in February 2009, only 484 signings took place. Even more impressive: a severe decline of supply in luxury condos and co-ops has done very little to deter activity. Supply dropped from 7,346 units-for-sale in 2011 to 6,738 in 2012, yet 2012 saw more signings. In other words, luxury apartments for sale in Manhattan are more popular than ever before, especially on the higher end of the market and more popular Manhattan neighborhoods.

With government officials issuing zoning proposals to stall the expansion of large chain stores on the Upper West Side, other Manhattan neighborhoodsare beginning to take note. Areas downtown and on the Upper East Side are now developing similar plans, in order to preserve retail diversity within their respective neighborhoods. 

The BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have been doing their part over the past few years to keep the Manhattan real estate market off the ground. Wealthy foreigners made up roughly 30% of all buyers of Manhattan condos in 2011. And with buildings like One57 in Midtown West that are being marketed towards the international community, this number shows no signs of decreasing in 2012. But while a Russian billionaire recently made headlines when he bought an in 15 Central Park West for his daughter, the New York Times recently wrote about how Brazilians have been much more quietly but no less dominantly infiltrating the Manhattan real estate market.

The real estate firm Prudential Douglas Elliman released a report recently that looked at real estate prices and figures over the past ten years, and DNA Info noticed that the numbers pointed to an interesting new trend in the Manhattan condo market. More families are moving into condos in Manhattan than ever before. Traditionally, New Yorkers move out to the suburbs once they decide to have children, but judging from the number of three- and four-bedroom condos that sold in Manhattan from 2002 to 2011, those families are now eager to be in the city itself.

The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo have released the February Housing Market Index, a monthly gauge of builder confidence in the national housing market. The index number of overall confidence in February was 29, a 4 point climb from January, when it was at 25. This is the fifth month in a row the number has gone up, and while still low, it is a promising indication that confidence in the market is improving nationwide. The Index includes information on different regions, but not for New York City specifically. But as we've written before, the is healthy.

Mayor Bloomberg has always had an unshakable faith in the power of the free market, entrepreneurship, and the nascent tech-industry. Perhaps that’s why he’s doubled the budget of a little known government body during the course of his administration, giving over $500 million in taxpayer dollars annually for capital projects. It's time to get familiar with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, an organization specifically designed to stimulate the economy of New York City, but one that is controversial insofar as it straddles the murky area between the public and private realm, making it powerful and inaccessable at the same time.

The recovery of New York City’s luxury condominium and co-op market has been extensively examined by New Construction Manhattan, and as we have noted, its gradual comeback is now . As 2011 wrapped up, 6,400 units were on the market in Manhattan, equating to a 9-month supply at current absorption rates.

If there is ever a bigger complaint that New Yorkers have about commuting by public transportation in the city, it would most likely be driving and finding viable parking options in Manhattan. The Department of City Planning recently revealed a report on the parking trends in Manhattan over the last three decades and the numbers are glum to say the least. The number of legally designated off-street parking in Manhattan has declined by close to 20 percent (from 127,000 to 102,000) since the 1980s. For many buyers who are looking to purchase a luxury condo in Manhattan, the inclusion of an on-site parking garage is just as big a deciding factor as a fireplace or walk-in closet. Contrary to intuitions however, many developers are reluctant to incorporate residents parking in new residential constructions.