Manhattan rental prices shrink slightly

NEW YORK The New York rental brokerage firm Citi Habitats says the price for all apartments except one-bedrooms dipped slightly between July and September, compared to the same period last year.

One-bedroom apartment prices increased 1.7 percent.

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.

In fact, Citi Habitats says it rented more apartments during the three months than it did during the same period in 2007.