Manhattan rents reach all-time high

Just when you thought Manhattan rents couldn't squeeze your checkbook any tighter, think again -- prices have reached an all-time high.

Rents in the first quarter of 2012 now surpass pre-recession levels, with the average rental up 6.5 percent in the past year, according to a Citi Habitats report out Thursday.

The average Manhattan apartment cost $3,418 in March, outpacing the previous record of $3,394 in May 2007, according to the report. In fact, rents are at their highest level since the brokerage firm began tracking them in 2002.

"It's 100 percent a landlord's market," said Citi Habitats president Gary Malin, adding that prices have surged despite the slowly recovering economy.

How can that be? Before the recession, rising rents were tied to a booming economy that escalated real estate prices across the city, he said. But now, Malin said, city dwellers are still cautious about becoming buyers, putting increased pressure on rentals.

"People are staying in the rental market longer than expected," Malin noted. "It's going to get fierce over the next four months, with more people entering the market, graduating from school, and more people's leases expiring."

During the first three months of 2012, the hottest rental category on the market was the studio, according to a report released Thursday by Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. The average Manhattan studio rented for $2,497, a 10 percent increase from the first quarter of 2011.

The report also found that the average Manhattan rent was up 6 percent from the first quarter of last year, with factors including a tight credit market for mortgages and the sluggish regional economy.

With vacancy rates barely unchanged, renters must continue to act fast or risk losing out on their dream digs.

"I have my clients hand me all the paperwork in advance," said Citi Habitats rental agent Morgan Turkewitz. "It's a huge advantage if they walk into an apartment, like it, and I already have their information."

Two of her clients were so eager to nab a $3,158-a-month, two-bedroom convertible in Gramercy Park that they put in an application after seeing only the pictures.

"We literally slipped it in five minutes before another couple," said Manhattan transplant Molly Hogan, 24. "I'm moving from Chicago, and it's nowhere near the stress level of New York City."