Manhattan Apartment Rents Approach Peak as Demand Surges

Manhattan apartment rents surged in the first quarter, coming within about 5 percent of the peak as would-be homeowners struggled to get mortgages and lingered longer in the leasing market.

The median rent rose 7.1 percent to $3,100 a month from $2,895 in the first quarter of 2011, according to a report today by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. It was the largest year-over-year increase since the second quarter of 2007, when rents climbed 11 percent. The number of new leases in the three months through March jumped 14 percent to 7,621.