The AP reports that rental brokerage Citi Habitats found rents for all apartments (except one-bedrooms) fell slightly during the third quarter, versus last year. (One-bedroom rental prices grew 1.7%.) "The dip may seem to indicate a weakness in the market, but the firm says there has been no precipitous decline in rental rates or substantial increase in vacancy rates," adding that it's rented more apartments between July and September this year than last. The next......

Now might be a good time to take a look at Tin Pan Alley, because The NY Post reports that "the birthplace of American song" has become a real estate commodity. Dating back to 1885, when music publishers came to the area, Tin Pan Alley kept the music going through the 1950s--and in the eyes of many should be preserved.Much to the dismay of tenants and preservationists, five of the buildings on West 28th Street......

The NY Times examines the phenomenon of more Manhattan families who opt to stay in cramped apartments, instead of moving to bigger homes in the 'burbs. One example is a internist and a labor nurse (plus two kids) living in a $3,995/month Greenwich Village rental--though spacious, there's a "queen-size bed, a crib, a toddler bed and a dresser" wedged in the sole bedroom. Then there's a Lower East Side couple who gave up their bedroom......

A new variation on the apartment rent in cash scam: The NY Post reports a woman was swindled out of $100,000 (meant for two apartments at 410 West 53rd Street) by the broker she met on Craigslist who "legitimately rented her a different Manhattan home two weeks before." Ah, the ol' reel them in and then scam them. The client says broker Leif Lopez showed her the apartments, which she planned to sublet to tourists.......

The development company that's pushing for a special rezoning approval to construct several residential buildings by the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn came under fire at a Neighborhood Association meeting in Carrol Gardens last night, with two local architects dismissing the project renderings as deceptive. Chris McVoy and John Hatheway maintained that the developer, Toll Brothers, has provided renderings that make their tallest building—which would be 12 stories and 125 feet high—look more like 85 feet.......

The real estate firms have released their third quarter sales information and they are reporting drops between 14% and 24%. Brown Harris Stevens had the 14% drop and Prudential Douglas Elliman had the 24% drop--both said median prices were down versus 2nd quarter, up versus last year (due to more expensive inventory). The average price of an apartment rose to $1.5 million in the third quarter, again driven by expensive apartments. Jonathan Miller of real......

Ah DUMBO, the little neighborhood that could. The NY Post takes its turn at looking at "the priciest Brooklyn neighborhood," and the pioneers who purchased real estate there before anyone else. In 1998, before the average price per sq-ft was $917, Craig Burd bought a place when there was "no grocery store, no drugstore, no dry cleaners, nothing" (now there's like one of each of those things!). First Burd spent $260,000 on a 1,260-sq-ft abode......

To complement the NY Times' story about the sad state of NYC real estate, the NY Post offers the sobering news that home prices are dropping all across the country as well as here in NYC. While the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller July survey does not include "does not include co-ops or condos, which make up the bulk of high-end real-estate sales in Manhattan," it does include single-family homes. Some examples included in this graphic are......

Just in time for Halloween, there's been some chatter regarding hallway and door decorations in New York apartments. Brownstoner notes that in July, a Clinton Hill co-op board controversially "decided to enforce a house rule: no decorations on any doors, without getting board approval first," since in a co-op you don't have the rights to your door, the decision is out of one's hands. A recent Habitat article breaks it down, but what about those......

The NY Post reports that decidedly un-glitzy Columbus Avenue bar (which serves food, including bangers and mash) Emerald Inn will be closing next year. Another neighborhood joint closing isn't surprising, but it's a little depressing, given how owner Charlie Campbell found out: "he only got the bad news when he saw the location advertised for lease on the Web site of real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis." Apparently the landlord is doubling the rent to......

Remember how the NY Times looks at apartment complexes in danger of defaulting on their mortgages last month? Well, Crain's continues that line of thought, noting that almost 600 buildings "have one or more factors that could lead to mortgage default." The Riverton Houses and Savoy Park in Harlem are both mentioned again, as is Stuyvesant Town. Per the Daily News, "Housing advocates told Crain's that buyers had unrealistic goals about rent increases. The same......

The House Ethics Committee voted to begin an inquiry on Representative Charles Rangel's actions. Rangel's use of Congressional letterhead to solicit donations for a center being built in his honor, multiple rent-stabilized apartments, unreported income from a second home, and other unreported income from property sales have put the powerful Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee under the microscope (in many of the cases, Rangel has pleaded ignorance). Rangel's lawyer said, "We look......

The Post suggests that Representative Charles Rangel's income may now be above $200,000, which is more than the $175,000-ceiling to qualify for rent-stabilized apartments. Rangel up until very recently occupied four rent-stabilized units at Lenox Terrace, three for living and one as an office (he gave up the office after the disclosure). Previously, Rangel claimed his income was around $175,000, but there are recent revelations about unreported income from a vacation villa, unreported property sales,......

Wall Street rebounded at the end of the week, but the commercial and residential real estate markets are getting ready for financial sector fallout. The NY Sun reported that Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch may mean another 4.2 million square feet of office space on the block. Still, brokers and the city are relieved that Barclays is taking Lehman's 7th Avenue office and the feds saved AIG, as they make up 6.2 million......

Earlier this year we looked at the $1 Victorian Flatbush home; since then the area has earned a This Old House Top 12 Places to Buy title, and filled the role of "The Hamptons" on Gossip Girl. Could the neighborhood be Brooklyn's next diva? Take a look at some of the gorgeous houses in the very un-city like setting. [via Mercurialn's Flickr]......

Those seeking a Brooklyn abode on a budget are doing so in the borough's far south and east corners, The Observer is reporting. "In the second quarter of 2008, the median home sales price for Brooklyn was $525,000 ... of the 3,766 homes sold under $525,000 in Brooklyn so far this year nearly half are within the 10 neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay, Kensington, Flatbush, Gravesend, East New York, Clinton Hill, Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg and......

Everyone is talking about the Herzog & de Meuron's 56 Leonard reveal, the apartment complex that looks like it was designed by a Gehry-influenced Dr. Seuss. The building will be a 57-story residential complex in Tribeca, housing 145 residences, each with its own unique floor plan and private outdoor space. The architects describe the units as “houses stacked in the sky,” but they aren't for those scared of heights. Come Fall 2010, residents will......

The New Museum's Bowery space still has that "new museum smell" to it, not even a year old, but they have just announced they've already acquired their next door neighbor, the building at 231 Bowery. They note in their press release that "The 47,000-square-foot, five-story structure is located directly south of the New Museum. The availability of an adjacent property is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a dynamic and growing institution." They have noted, however, that......

Manhattan, once one of the few spots that seemed immune to the foreclosure bug that has swept the nation. But the NY Times reports that more apartment owners in Manhattan are missing payments, putting their apartments up for sale to avoid losing them with foreclosures for this July up 78 percent from the year before. Manhattan homeowners may have believed that they were invincible because of the relatively stable real estate market with those folding......

The Empire State Development Corporation held a two-day meeting for the public to air their opinions and concerns about Columbia University's Manhattanville plan. The NY Times reported, "while the two-day hearing featured testimony from a former mayor, members of the State Legislature and the president of Columbia University, the group that will make the ultimate decision, the development corporation’s board, was not there." (Only a lawyer for the ESDC listened.) Former mayor David Dinkins said......

The Observer looks at "Roosevelt Island 2.0"--as in the new developments on the island. The big development Riverwalk "could bring 2,500 to 3,000 new residents to the Island" which translates to over a 25% increase in population since 2000. Roosevelt Island 360 blogger Eric Schwartzman has been documenting the addition of Riverwalk said of the chain stores finally arriving, "It very funny, where a lot of areas are like 'We already have too many Starbucks,'......

After the NY Post's cover story wondering about rental income from Representative Charles Rangel's Dominican Republic villa, a GOP group weighs in. Rangel's villa, which sits on a resort, has been rented out to hotel guests, but he hasn't reported rental income in the past two years (his chief of staff suggested Rangel may be a shareholder at the resort and put money back into the resort--but Rangel's tax returns don't mention that). The National......

Time, once again, to break out the tiny violins. It's hard living in luxury condos with commanding views! The Wall Street Journal has a long article on the trials and tribulations bravely endured by those whose floor-to-ceiling windows are turning their high rise apartments into hot boxes. It seems that some people don't realize that their expansive view of the Hudson also comes with too much damn sunlight! Can't the local community boards do anything......

Though it's being listed under the incorrect address of 419 Broome Street, the apartment Heath Ledger was residing in when he died earlier this year is now on the market. Curbed points out the address is actually 421 Broome, but may have been changed in the listing to keep away any media attention. They also note that it's going for $4,000 more than Ledger paid, at $26,000/month, and the "4,400-square-foot Soho spread" has been "quietly......

Sure, there's a lot of prefab housing on display at MoMA right now, but have you seen any of the modular structures inhabited in New York? Design*Sponge points out a Kithaus in Williamsburg, whose "location required each module to be carried, by hand, through a 3 story brick rowhouse. The builders then added custom decks and wedged it in between warehouses and light industrial buildings to create this compact urban oasis." Prepare to be jealous......

Could it really be that Manhattan's obscene rents are becoming ever-so-slightly less obscene? That's the Observer's perception, and they've got market reports from the Real Estate Group New York [REGNY] indicating that rents on studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are lower this summer than last. According to REGNY, in June the average rent for a Manhattan two-bedroom apartment in a non-doorman building was $3,950, 6.5 percent less than in June 2007. All this has the......

After a Monday article about how the middle-class Harlem housing complex Riverton Houses' owners might default on their loan, the NY Times now looks other big real estate deal that might go sour. Like the Riverton Houses, Stuyvesant Town was bought by a big real estate company who hoped to convert more rent-stabilized units to market rates and make a profit (but it's been slow-going so far). And there are other possible victims, like Harlem's......

Some New Yorkers leave the city for our reasonably-priced neighbor, New Jersey, others leave to start farms, and now NYMag reports that some are leaving for Buffalo, NY. One couple (and there's more than one!) in their 30s recently left their 1.5 bdrm Sunset Park apartment (and $1300/month rent) for the greener pastures of the upstate city, where they enjoy their new rent of $795/month. Just what does one get for that price? Three-bedrooms, living......

As the Department of Justice investigates whether thousands of NYC apartments follow the Fair Housing Act by providing accessible housing to the disabled, the NY Times spent time with one woman who has a tough time maneuvering around her Battery Park City apartment while using her wheelchair. Roberta Galler, who had polio has a child, "cannot open or close windows by herself because the locks are too high" and "has not returned to her bathroom......

Back in January, it was reported Major League Baseball's new TV network would be the anchor tenant at a planned 21-story glass skyscraper on 125th Street and Park Avenue. Then last month, the skyscraper was reportedly undergoing some changes, since developer Vornado was having trouble securing financing. Now, it looks like there's more trouble, as the NY Times says the plan has started to "unravel," because Vornado wants MLB to "take additional space and pay......