Upside to the Down Real Estate Market: Manhattan Rents Rose Just 1.6 Percent Since January 2009

Recent years have been tough in Manhattan real estate, as they have throughout the economy as a whole. But there's one ray of sunshine amid all the clouds, and it's shining right on those looking for rental apartments in Manhattan. The New York Times reports that rental apartments in New York City saw their rents increase at the slowest rate since 1994 over the last 12 months. Of course, rents on Manhattan rental apartments never actually go down -- this is New York real estate, remember? -- but an average rental increase of just 1.6 percent qualifies as inarguable good news for NYC dwellers looking for a rental apartment. In this economy, we all have to take our good news where we can find it, but while some landlords are surely not of the opinion that down rents are good news, we'll assume that those looking for NYC rentals (which is probably why you're at Luxury Rentals Manhattan in the first place) would disagree.