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Rents continue to rise through region
BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter James Schlett at 395-3040 or jschlett@dailygazette.net

   Capital Region apartment rents continued to climb this spring, rising by $15 over the last six months, according to a report released Thursday.
   The region’s average multifamily unit monthly rent increased by 1.8 percent to $852 in spring from $837 last fall. The $15 increase was not as robust as the $21 spike Sunrise Management and Consulting recorded for last fall — the largest six-month increase the Latham firm had registered since starting its Multifamily Rental Market Report in 2000.
   However, Richard Dolins, Sunrise’s vice president and director research, said the region’s rental market performed strongly during the year’s early slow months. Over the year, the average rent rose by 4.4 percent from $816 in spring 2006.
   “This is still good, because we’re collecting this in what would be a slow period,” said Dolins.
   Dolins categorized the region’s spring rent increase as “nice steady growth.” He attributed that growth to the region’s having “enough product or just enough product to meet demand.”
   In December, Dolins noted that rental unit supply is becoming increasingly strained because lengthy and expensive planning processes are dissuading developers from pursuing apartment projects. Although planning for major apartment complexes is under way in downtown Albany and Malta, those projects feature high-end units that will likely drive up the region’s average rent, Dolins said.
   The latest Sunrise results were collected during February and March. The survey included 120 area apartment complexes and 23,991 units.
   The Albany area in spring scored upstate New York’s second-highest rent increase over the previous six months, in terms of dollars. It trailed the Plattsburgh area’s $19 hike to $613. On the other end of the scale, the Hudson Valley and Buffalo areas showed increases of less than $1.
   Connecticut and Vermont also saw significant rent increases in spring. Modest and substantial rent decreases were recorded in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine. They were flat in New Hampshire.
   Across the Northeast, the Sunrise survey included 1,900 apartment communities with a total of 330,000 units.  

  
  
  

Wonder if taxes are taken out of this in Schenectady County.  Then, we'll really be putting our "fair share" into the pot with the county wide taxes with all our MFRH around.

They are  making rental costs sound like purchasing a car. These are rents we are talking about. Ya know, where people have to live and work and possibly raise some kids. I don't really care if MFH are a hot commodity or not. What happened to 'affordability'? You can throw up as many MFH as you want, but who is going to rent them with inflated prices. They would eventually become the recipient of section 8 and slum lords would be born.

As far as Rotterdam's MFH boom...there isn't even nough esolid infrustruture to support what is already here let alone adding more toilets flushing, showers, dishwashers, clothes washers and not to mention the wear and tear on the already falling apart roads.