Bloomberg - Manhattan apt rent dropped at least 8% May to August

Manhattan Apartment Rents Drop as Employers Cut Jobs (Update1) By John Gittelsohn Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Manhattan apartment rents fell an average of at least 8 percent in the year’s most active leasing season as Wall Street job cuts and the recession rippled through the economy, real estate broker Citi Habitats said today. Rents for studio apartments fell 11 percent to an average of $1,763,... [more]

Manhattan Apartment Rents Drop as Employers Cut Jobs (Update1) By John Gittelsohn Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Manhattan apartment rents fell an average of at least 8 percent in the year’s most active leasing season as Wall Street job cuts and the recession rippled through the economy, real estate broker Citi Habitats said today. Rents for studio apartments fell 11 percent to an average of $1,763, according to the broker’s data on deals in May through August of this year compared with a year earlier. The cost of a one-bedroom fell 8 percent to an average of $2,425. Two-bedrooms declined 11 percent to $3,421 and three-bedroom units fell 8 percent to $4,633. Rising unemployment drove rents lower, reversing a four- year streak of increases, Citi Habitats said. The survey focused on the months when the most apartments change hands because of school graduations and job relocations. “We all knew rents had to adjust,” Citi Habitats President Gary Malin said in an interview. “But a lot of people who work in Manhattan have moved back.” The survey is based on rental rates on signed leases and doesn’t include discounts renters negotiate, such as reduced broker fees or a month’s free rent. About half of brokers’ fees were paid by landlords, up from 25 percent to 30 percent, Malin estimated. Renters usually pay the fee. Citi Habitats brokered about 5,700 transactions during the four-month period this year, up from 4,600 in 2008. To contact the reporter on this story: John Gittelsohn in New York at johngitt@bloomberg.net . Last Updated: September 23, 2009 12:38 EDT [less]