Manhattan Rental Slump Continues, More Drops Coming?

Manhattan rents went into a bit of an expected tailspin during the slow summer months and into September, but the October numbers—released in a report today prepared by rental brokerage The Real Estate Group New York—shows that the slump has continued. According to TREGNY's report (which you can download right here) rents across all categories were down from September, with the exception of 2BRs in non-doorman building, which were flat. The year-over-year numbers for October can be seen in the table above, and while the drops don't indicate a crisis for landlords just yet, TREGNY warns of "downward forces beyond simple seasonality trends." And how! According to the report, rents on the Lower East Side continued their free-fall, and Harlem still offers the cheapest choices. It'll be interesting to see what happens to inventory levels and pricing if more condo projects go rental, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
· Manhattan Rental Market Report: October 2008 [TREGNY]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.