Manhattan rents increased 5% in 2012: Report

Despite a spike in rents in Manhattan last month, a report released Friday shows a few spots that may offer some relief to bargain apartment hunters.

Rents were up 5% in Manhattan from January 2012 to last month, according to a report from real estate group MNS, with studios seeing an average $133 jump in rent in Manhattan.

But two neighborhoods in the borough saw a decline in monthly rates.

The average price of an apartment in Murray Hill fell $88 from December to January, and rents in Harlem declined $49 during the same time period.

Prices in Brooklyn also fell overall, with the average price of a studio dropping 2.6% from December to last month.

Studio rents in Crown Heights dropped 2.1% in January.

During the same period, the average price for a one-bedroom unit in Brooklyn fell 3% and two-bedroom rents dropped 2%.