a 10% drop in rent is roughly a free month of rent, which is pretty common nowadays. the other approach is that the landlord pays the broker, which typically equals the monthly rent payment.

the problem in jersey city is, which has been pointed out elsewhere, the increasing expenses real estate taxes and utilities that landlords have to bear. so given a 10% increase in these expenses coupled with a 10% cut in rent de facto reduces the landlord's margin by 20%.

so, many renters who have received a reduction in their current rents are in fact paying roughly 20% less in rent from the landlord's perspective ...

worth pointing out ...

Actually the article isn't saying that real estate prices are holding. What its saying is the vacancy rate is lower than in most places and not rising that rapidly, largely because of the squeeze renters are putting on landlords. Landlords are lowering prices or creating incentives that overall lower prices to keep renters in place or avoid vacancies.

Do you think it"s possible that EVERY city on the entire Earth is running the same story:
EVERY CITY HAS FALLING REAL ESTATE PRICES EXCEPT HERE!

I think the reason is that NYC landlords will do what it takes to rent a place because of how much revenue they would lose each month that it isn't rented. So they lower the rent or offer a month or two of "free" rent on the lease. I wonder if the "free" rent even figures into how much rents have come down.

NYC rentals get squeezed
Tight market for rental apartments in NYC runs counter to national glut.

As unemployment hits record numbers, more apartments sit vacant nationwide ? but not in New York City.

Nationally, vacancies rose to 7.8 percent this year, property research firm Reis Inc. found ? the highest rate since 1986. In New York City, however, the vacancy rate is just under 3 percent.

Realtors say high turnover keeps the city?s rental market strong.

?I would look at NYC more like a hotel, with people coming and going,? said Issac Krispin, founder of Urban Sanctuary Realty.

?It?s basically a small island that everyone wants to live in ... it?s not like people rent here for years.?

But landlords everywhere are lowering rents. Average New York City rents dropped 6.8 percent from

what they were this time last year and they?re expected to keep dropping.

It?s those cheap rentals that helped buoy real estate firms after a bleak autumn last year.

?It was an amazing summer,? Krispin said. ?We did more rentals because the prices were down.?

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Find cheap rent

Here?s how to stretch your dollar when looking for an apartment in NYC:

1 Drive a hard bargain; Desperate to fill vacancies, some property owners are offering as much as four months free. Others are paying for moving fees for new tenants.

2 Get roommates. Many landlords are now even paying to install the partition walls for apartment shares. Before, that $1,000 cost would usually fall to the tenant.

3 Check online with the NYC Affordable Housing Resource Center, which gives information to the many ?lottery? programs for below-market housing.

4 Consider new, more affordable locations like upper Manhattan, Bushwick or Jersey City.

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/10/07/05/5547-82/index.xml