TRGNY: Manhattan Rental Market Report

"It's still cheaper to rent than it is to buy in the New York City metro region, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Homeowners in the Greater New York City region -- which they count as including New York City and Nassau, Suffolk and Orange counties -- paid a median of $1,517 in monthly housing costs in 2009, compared to renters, who paid $1,019 a month. The data, which comes from the American Housing Survey, also showed that 35 percent of homeowners in the area don't have a mortgage, while 66 percent of survey respondents reported being very satisfied with their living situation"

http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/new-york-city-area-and-nassau-suffolk-and-orange-county-renters-still-pay-less-than-homeowners-according-to-census-bureau

Yes it's 2009 data but as I posted several times, the rental market supports a $750/$800 per square foot sales number (200 times monthly rent) instead of the seemingly steady $1050 per sq ft in sales. The $1019 versus $1517 median represents around a 30% disparity.
What a coincidence.......

Have sales come down and/or rents gone up enough to cover the 30% disparity for 2010?
Yep, exactly. If rents don't make a proper climb, sales have to go down.
maybe no crash but gravity right now is still against sales.

when was the last time it was cheaper to buy than rent in nyc? early 90s? earlier than that?