Kelly Roberts
Published: Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The cost to live in many NYU dorms will increase next year — and at the same time, rental prices around the city are dropping rapidly.

Since last March the average cost of a Manhattan studio without a doorman has gone down 4.84 percent, from $2,059 to $1,959 per month, according to The Real Estate Group’s Manhattan Rental Market Report.

Since last March the average cost of a Manhattan studio without a doorman has gone down 4.84 percent, from $2,059 to $1,959 per month, according to The Real Estate Group’s Manhattan Rental Market Report.

The report named the Lower East Side as the best bargain for one-bedroom apartments. Apartments in that neighborhood average $450 less than other central areas of the city. Affordable areas for a two-bedroom include Harlem, Midtown West, Upper East Side and the East Village.

The report named the Lower East Side as the best bargain for one-bedroom apartments. Apartments in that neighborhood average $450 less than other central areas of the city. Affordable areas for a two-bedroom include Harlem, Midtown West, Upper East Side and the East Village.

Victor Cino, senior vice president at Halstead Properties, said New York was the last real estate market in the nation to take a fall.

“We took a big fall because Wall Street was impacted,” Cino said. “The high-end prices had no demand anymore because Wall Street no longer had bonuses. The rest of the market followed that but also because people got very nervous about spending.”

Because of lowered prices, more students have begun to use the Off-Campus Housing Office’s housing registry to look for apartments or a roommate.

“Many students are doing more comparative shopping and are evaluating the benefits of off-campus housing versus on-campus housing,” said Jennifer Brown, assistant vice president of Housing and Strategic Planning. “Most notable in the outside market is the increase in availability of the smaller types of accommodations such as studios and one-bedroom apartments.”

Despite fees such as security deposits and utilities, many students still find it beneficial to move off campus.

“I’m going abroad, but when I get back, I’m moving off-campus, hopefully the East Village, because you can find comparable prices to NYU,” CAS junior Joe Haldeman said. “If you can get the same price for something you would have to share at NYU, why not?”

The high amount of currently unoccupied residential and commercial real estate means landlords have also started to offer such bonuses as offering one month of free rent or including utilities in the price of rent. Almost 30 percent of the apartments listed by Halstead Properties between February and March offered owner payment of broker fees, compared to eight percent last year.

“Some brokers and landlords are offering incentives. However, we have been told that the market is expected to even out in the next few months and that many of these incentives may not be available much longer,” Brown said.

Cino confirmed this, saying that prices will begin to stabilize within the next few months as the low prices encourage more people to begin buying.

“The market is starting to move upwards,” he said. “The prices are stabilizing, and there are more people out there that are going from shoppers to buyers. By late May [or] early June, it should start to stabilize. It may take a year to get back on track.”

To Read Original Article: http://www.nyunews.com/news/city-state/dropping-apartment-prices-entice-students-1.1647312