It is a matter of no small import these days, when high demand and a low vacancy rate have driven rents to dizzying heights.

The colonnade between the wings was still intact, but just as the camera moved across it two of the columns buckled and crashed back into the face of the hotel, driving tremendous rents through the wall.

Excess demand will be driven into the private rental sector driving rents up further.

And in one trendy location, Hoboken, agents said that a tight market had driven rents considerably higher than they were a few years ago, though prices had recently begun to level off.

The limited housing supply has driven home prices and rents upward, forcing people to pay more than they can afford or else move out of New Jersey in search of a cheaper place to live.

This drove average rents in Class A buildings from $36.19 per square foot to $37.58 per foot, the highest level of the 1990's.

"Look at what is happening to Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town," Mr. Finkelpearl said, referring to the middle-class apartments that were recently sold, driving rents up.

But with so little housing built in recent years, demand for apartments has driven rents up 38 percent on the West Side since 1993.

That is not likely to abate as more large corporations move in, driving rents up.

Vacancy rates in office buildings are near historic lows, driving commercial rents up.