In this month’s Manhattan Rental Market Report , a monthly report published by The Real Estate Group, Daniel Baum C.O.O. reports as follows:

“With the same uncertainties mirrored in Manhattan’s financial markets, employment levels and overall economic climate, it comes as no surprise that housing inventory is not being consumed as quickly as many would like, and that landlords are taking precautionary measures so as not to be saddled with excess vacancies in the fall. Many property owners are continuing to offer concessions such as owner-paid fees or one month’s free rent to provide consumers with a little “relief at the pump” of their own.

In looking back to the beginning of the year, citywide rental prices have remained stagnant, a trend that is unusual for this historically busy time of year. In years past, we saw rental prices begin their ascent in late April and continue through at least mid-August before leveling off into the fall and winter months. This year, however, we are clearly not seeing that same momentum coming into the marketplace.

Almost all neighborhoods experienced both price gains and losses in June, with dramatic hikes for specific apart ment sizes and considerable drops in others, leading to very little change in average prices across the board. With landlords adjusting and readjusting prices to gauge the state of the market, it is still unclear how this year’s busy season will turn out.”

Williamsburg appears to be mirroring Manhattan in so far as there are some good deals popping up. To be fair, it’s quite nice to see prices adjust, and watch the market fill up with some pretty sweet deals. It may not be a bad time to move after all! Still, the question remains, whether people will keep holding their breath, or are we going to have an active July-August season. There are no monthly statistical reports on Brooklyn’s real estate market that are made available to the general public, and even if there were, it would be misleading to apply the numbers to unique markets like Williamsburg/Greenpoint. Brokerages either don’t have the sophistication to analyze their numbers or they are holding their cards close to their chests: what broker wants to tell the public its a renters market? (If you’ve read Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” you might feel our pain here).
In our own firm we have been observing erratic behavior from the local rental market. One of our primary pulses on the market comes from our hit counters on all our advertising. We’ve seen days where our ads for Williamsburg and Greenpoint spike to 1900 looks a day, and days where they dip to as low as 500. Generally speaking there is a slow down before July 4th, and generally speaking we have seen our numbers dip below the 1000 per day average over the last 3 weeks to about 800-900, nothing too significant unless you take into consideration the fact that these numbers are supposed to rise at this time of year, not wain.
We are seeing apartments sit on the market slightly to significantly longer than this time last year, but generally speaking good inventory is still moving at a pace commensurate with New York’s here-the-one-minute-gone-the-next reputation. In short we are observing adjustments but we’re still on the same field playing the same game with pretty much the same rules. If you ask me it’s just a good time to be looking for a good deal is all.