STAT OF THE DAY: New York vs. Philly Rents

The Manhattan rental market reports are popping out this week (I covered an authoritative one earlier this week). They show what many already know deep in their guts and wallets: Manhattan is the most expensive rental market in the United States.

How expensive? Compare it to Philadelphia: The average one-bedroom rent in one of the city's nicer neighborhoods--Rittenhouse Square--was $1,544, according to 2006 numbers from the Center City District & Central Philadelphia Development Corp. In Harlem in February, the monthly one-bedroom rents in nondoorman buildings averaged $1,634, according to The Real Estate Group New York.