I’d suspect that the number of people leaving isn’t as great as you’d think … a lot of people left in March/April, some have stopped paying rent or notified their landlord that they’re breaking their leases. Apartment showings weren’t really legal until late June, so many of the apartments that were vacated 4-5 months ago are just coming on market now.
Vacancy rate is now 3-4% instead of 1-2%. 3-4% would be considered GREAT for most markets in the US.
The irony is that NYC may have the lowest new infection rate of any major US city at this point. Masks are taken seriously, and we have a significant proportion of people that have antibodies (20%+, probably closer to 30%).
The average chance of being hospitalized for COVID over a year in NYC is now under 0.2% per year.
