Report: Manhattan Rents Drop (Yes, Drop)

Renters, you have been delivered. Relatively speaking.

A new report (PDF) from brokerage The Real Estate Group shows that average monthly rents in non-luxury buildings below 100th Street dropped from September into October. Apartments remain pricey, but the average landlord may be smiling a little less smugly as he or she asks you to kindly sign the lease.

The most expensive neighborhoods were Tribeca and SoHo, with rents ranging from $3,095 to $6,975 a month in doorman buildings. The least expensive neighborhoods were the Lower East Side, the Upper West Side, and Midtown West, where studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms in non-doorman buildings went for an average $1,752, $2,230, and $3,231, respectively.

Overall, rents decreased the most in one- and two-bedrooms in doorman buildings. Studio apartment rents stayed stable.

In more fabulous news for renters, The Real Estate Group noted that landlord incentives continue. Some landlords now offer to pay broker fees or first month's rent in order to entice tenants.

Have we entered a prolonged golden age for the Manhattan tenant? Or are landlords taking a autumnal breather before the rents again go higher?