Rent

There's more than one reason to move into a building with a pool BEFORE summer's over

By Lambeth Hochwald  | July 17, 2017 - 12:59PM
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With hot and humid weather occurring on the regular, you’re probably daydreaming about what it would be like to put on your bathing suit and head straight to your building’s pool for a dip, without needing to wear much more than a bathing suit and cover-up.

Well, believe it or not, the sticky days of summer are not the priciest time to up and move to a rental building with a pool. So says Caren Maio, CEO and co-founder of Nestio, a rental listings data aggregator.

“The surprising thing we found in our data is that while there’s always a premium for a pool or outdoor space, there’s an uptick during the fourth quarter of the year, a time when you wouldn’t expect it,” says Maio of Nestio’s study which was controlled for unit size/layout and neighborhood and compared the premiums over the course of the year for pools compared to amenities like doormen, laundry, etc., which remain mostly flat throughout the year. (See graph below.)

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Among studio, one- and two-bedroom units on the market in Manhattan, landlords are generally charging a 24 percent premium for units in buildings with pools, Maio says. If you’re interested in an Upper East Side two-bedroom, that premium climbs to 71 percent. 

“Our hypothesis is that there’s always that gloomy feeling when you’re moving in the winter and that you’re willing to sign a lease—and pay more—for that promise of living in a building with a pool.”

Maio’s best advice: “If you’re a renter, get your pool and roof deck when they’re cheapest—in Q2,” she says. 

Want to swim at home? Here are more numbers to keep in mind:

Price premiums by apartment size

While the overall average premium for pools in Manhattan is about 24 percent, this breaks down to an 16 percent premium for studios, a 22 percent premium for one-bedrooms and a 28 percent premium for two-bedrooms. 

Price premiums by neighborhood

Pool premiums for all apartment sizes are about one-and-a-half times higher than average on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side. They're about 50 percent lower than average in the Financial District and Hell's Kitchen (perhaps because there are more of them). 

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Caption

All charts created by Nestio

And, as evidenced by the chart above, renters will also pay the highest premium for roof decks and outdoor space during the months when they're dreaming of them most.

 

 

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