Average Manhattan rent: $3,418

This post comes from Marilyn Lewis of MSN Money.

You think you'rehaving trouble finding a rental you can afford? Be grateful if you don't live in Manhattan. There, the vacancy rate is 1%, and the stampede for homes and apartments has driven the average rent to $3,418 a month.

That's more expensive than even at the peak of Manhattan's real-estate bubble in 2007, says The New York Times, in a story called "The city of sky-high rent." It's also a far cry from the post-crash days of 2008, when landlords were offering two months' free rent for signing a year lease.

Soaring rents are the result of the hot competition on two fronts: Home shoppers are having trouble getting loans, and new construction in the city is limited.

Studios for $2,000 to $2,500

The Times got its rental prices from a survey (.pdf file) by Citi Habitats, Manhattan's largest rental brokerage firm. The study covered only buildings owned by big rental companies. Properties owned by small landlords weren't included. Nor were rent-regulated apartments, which the majority in New York City are.

That may affect the numbers somewhat but not the trend: High rents are rising higher. Glance at Craigslist's Manhattan rental listings, and you'll find studios renting for $2,000 to $2,500.

New York's high rents are such a long-standing problem that a fringe political party, the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, ran its own mayoral candidate in 2005 and 2010.

To cope, Manhattanites -- already famous for squeezing lots of tenants into a small apartment -- are doubling up even more, using living rooms for bedrooms, says the Times. Many flee to the boroughs surrounding Manhattan, where rents, while relatively less expensive, also are rising. (Post continues below.)

But relocating is expensive, too -- as much as $5,000, including broker fees, security deposit and moving costs, one renter told the Times.

"I felt trapped," said Jaclyn Barrocas, who was recently hit with a big rent increase on her East Side apartment. "It was too expensive to move and too expensive to stay. And it feels like I am not even a person to the landlord."

At New York magazine, which linked to the Times' article, readers skewered some of its findings for being biased toward high-end real estate. But they, too, lament the high cost of renting in Manhattan:

Wrote "NYCLAWYERETTE:"

I am so glad I left NYC. Disposable income! Who knew?

Added "NYCBOY73," speaking of a group of renters described in the Times' article:

Am I the only one who thinks it's sad that you can make 90k a year, and still have to share an apt with perhaps two other people? And 3 grown men paying $5,400 a month to live in a 2 bedroom on Wall St is just depressing.

This city is ridiculous.

Readers are adding their two cents at the Times' site. "Nigel" posted about rent controls and rent stabilization ("RC/RS") in Manhattan:

Landlords have a set amount they want to make in rents for the entire building and if they cannot get the rent from some of the tenants, because of RC/RS, the other tenants will pay the difference, as long as the market supports it.

A family can earn $200,000 and keep their RC/RS apartment. That means a person making $50,000 a year will pay $2,000 for the same apartment that a person making $200,000 pays $500 a month for.

What about buying?

Many Manhattan renters, if they can afford it, are deciding it's time to buy. In fact, the rent-buy seesaw has tipped against renters almost everywhere in the U.S. Buying now is cheaper than renting in 98 of the top 100 metro areas, IHS Global Insight economist Patrick Newport told CNNMoney. 

Buying may sound like a great idea, with interest rates staying at record-low levels. But would-be buyers who can't get mortgages are trapped in the increasingly pricey rental market, like renters all over the country. This story at MSN Real Estate looks at the increasingly stiff requirements lenders are placing on borrowers.

In Manhattan, Kimberly and Bryan Kreuzberger, both 32, told the Times that their Greenwich Village studio loft rented for $3,200 a month when they found it in 2009. With two free months' rent for signing a lease, their rent was effectively just over $2,800. Then, last year, their landlord raised the rent, to $3,450. This spring they're being hit with another increase, to $3,795.

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It was enough to convince them to buy a two-bedroom apartment in the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn. They're paying more than $2 million. After putting 25% down, their total payment will be $4,250 a month.

If $2 million sounds like a lot for a two-bedroom apartment, consider that the average sale price of a Manhattan condo was $1.86 million in the first quarter of this year. That's the highest since 2009, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Why do people stay in Manhattan, then? This blog post at The Village Voice explains:

Now, one could jump ship and head to Crown Heights or Astoria or Park Slope or Long Island City or a handful of other neighborhoods that offer much more bang for the buck. But Manhattan is still Manhattan; this dream-like Eden where it's do-or-die, go-big-or-go-home (to Brooklyn) and a dog-eat-dog world. 

More on MSN Money:

• Calculator:Should you rent or buy?
• Do renters ruin a neighborhood?
• The rent-or-buy test
• Should you buy a foreclosure?
• Calculator:How much house can you afford?
• Return of the 20% down payment?