by Calculated Risk on 5/10/2009 03:19:00 PM

From the NY Times: Manhattan Calling

... Great Recession prices are drawing even the most loyal outer-borough dwellers back to Manhattan. ...

Among the lures: $1,600 one-bedrooms on the Lower East Side. Lenient landlords who no longer require security deposits. And an overriding sense that an obscenely overpriced borough is now, well, slightly more reasonably overpriced.

... "[T]his was a unique moment in real estate history where renters have the upper hand, which seemed unbelievable a couple of years ago." [said] Keith O’Brien, a 30-year-old in marketing and public relations ...

In the first three months of the year, one-bedroom rents in Manhattan fell 6.7 percent compared with the previous year, while Brooklyn one-bedrooms dropped just 3.2 percent, according to data from Citi Habitats and Ideal Properties Group ... Other reports show some Manhattan rents down by 10 percent from a year ago.

... prices at upscale rental buildings like 45 Wall Street have come down significantly, discounted by 15 to 20 percent in recent weeks.

This is mostly anecdotal data, but it does appear apartment rents are falling in much of the country.