The nomads of summer in New York

New York

TWENTY-FIVE years old, employed and engaged, Elana Rosman had not envisioned moving back to her childhood home in Great Neck, New York, on Long Island.

She is not in a quarter-life crisis, seeking a safe haven to figure out her next step. It's much simpler than that. To avoid taking on a new lease this summer, Ms Rosman is "going nomad" and has moved home with her parents.

The summer rental season is notorious for being the priciest time of year in New York, because demand shoots up as recent graduates flock to the city looking for a place to live, and prices naturally follow suit. As a result, some people do whatever they can to put off signing a lease until the autumn.

Temporary strategies include couch-surfing, house-sitting, finding a short-term rental or a boardinghouse, or moving in with relatives - as Ms Rosman did. She figures that by waiting out the summer's high rental season, she may find rents as much as a few hundred dollars a month lower when she starts apartment-hunting…