Tell-tale stat: Manhattan apartment rents continue to fall


The U.S. housing market may be starting to turn, but in Manhattan, at least in the rental market, renters still have the upper hand.

Manhattan apartment rents fell as much as 10% in August, on a year-over-year basis, according to data compiled by the Real Estate Group of New York, with concessions by owners widespread, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

For doorman-attended buildings, the average rental dropped 10% to $3,274 per month; studios fell 7% to $2,329 per month; two-bedrooms declined 6.9% to $5,161 per month.

The significance for investors? New York City is later in the housing cycle than the rest of the nation -- its high housing prices, and rents, hung on for a long time, even as the much of the nation's home values plummeted. Most likely, the city, now also with a 9.6% unemployment rate, will recover later than other regions. Hence, when you see Manhattan rental prices rebound, that's a sign that the U.S. housing recovery is solidifying.

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Last updated: February 13, 2012: 07:35 AM

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