Manhattan apartment rents last month trailed those in February 2008 by less than 1 percent, according to the Manhattan Rental Market Report issued today by The Real Estate Group New York.

"Given the depths that the market had fallen," the report said, "this is a true testament to the rental market's resilience over the past three years."

Manhattan continues to exhibit positive stability as February rolls to a close. The winter dip that we would expect has been absent this year as the market holds steady through the start of the New Year.

Rents are relatively flat this month versus last - up only .40% overall. Year-over-year comparisons show prices up 8.01% on average. The largest changes vs. 2010 numbers were in doorman studios, which were up 10.31%.

Inventories continued to creep up this month - up 3.68% from January figures; however, this relatively modest increase is being supported by flat rental prices and seasonality trends. As Manhattan enters the spring, we believe these units will be quickly snatched up.

The Manhattan Rental Market Report¿ is based on data cross-sectioned from over 10,000 currently available listings located below 155th Street and priced under $10,000, with ultra-luxury property omitted to obtain a true monthly rental average.

The report found that the most expensive average rents in the city last month were in TriBeCa where it said rents for non-doorman studios were $3,904, non-doorman one-bedrooms were $4,640 and non-doorman two-bedrooms were $6,640 and that for doorman studios the most expensive rents in the city were in TriBeCa, $3,010 while doorman one-bedrooms were most expensive in SoHo at $4,488 and doorman two-bedrooms were most expensive in SoHo at $8,130.

The report said that "renters looking for their own piece of SoHo should start looking this month for a great deal" as non-doorman studio units are down 7.65% to $2,476 this month, adding that "these are the lowest prices we've seen on these units since January 2010."

It also maintained that "Prospective tenants looking for great deals should head to the Upper East Side this month. Overall, rents are down in this neighborhood by 3.18%. The largest changes were in non-doorman and doorman studios, down 8.66% and 5.50% respectively."

Renters needed more space and "a lot of convenience," it said, "should head to Chelsea" where "non-doorman two-bedroom units are down 8.69% to $4,022 this month, making these units fantastic deals."