NYC (Manhattan) - Rent vs Buy Considerations

[Farrah Ahmed]

Was curious for other investors living in NYC what you all think about A) renting vs buying for your own primary residence in the city, and B)what do people thinking about condos vs. coops? Hard to know the future, but I'm assuming at least a 5 year time horizon for staying in NY at least. The city is still recovering and I recognize it may take a few years for things to get back to normal. Rents are obviously very low right now, but I see that changing. Home prices have come down from the 2017 NYC highs (and covid hurt a bit too).  It seems to me that condo prices in Manhattan are way higher than equivalent coops (sometimes 2-3x as much) so the coops seem like a better value, esp if I am looking at not renting out/etc. Curious what others think. I'm debating if better to keep renting and save my cash to invest in other cities or if I should buy a place for myself.

[David Bailey]

Don’t underestimate NYC’s ability to bounce back.  I lived in the city most of the 90’s, and I was too “smart” to buy at what I thought were inflated prices. Guess what?