Manhattan landlords are pulling unrented apartments off the market at an unusually elevated rate, tightening inventory while rents are low and, in some neighborhoods, still falling, the Wall Street Journal reported. The practice, sometimes known as “warehousing,” has come under greater scrutiny from housing advocates and lawmakers in recent years. Critics charge that removing units from the market creates an artificial scarcity that worsens the city’s housing shortage. Landlords say the decision to warehouse is a necessary response to both regulatory and economic changes, including heightened tenant eviction protections during the pandemic. Building owners removed 1,814 apartment listings in Manhattan last month, according to real-estate data analytics company UrbanDigs. That’s more than three times the number of apartments landlords removed from the market in February of 2020. Reduced demand for Manhattan apartments during the pandemic sent median rental prices down more than 17% for the year ending in December, according to a report from appraisal firm Miller Samuel and real-estate brokerage Douglas Elliman. Rent concessions of up to 25% off the previous year’s rent have become common at luxury buildings, and tenants say they have more negotiating power in new leases than they ever had before.
