New York rents far surpass all other U.S. markets. California and New England cities vie for second place.

New York City -and not just Manhattan has by far the highest rents of any of the 52 major apartment rental markets around the nation, according to the report published at Wednesday.

At year's end, the average estimated monthly rent for all of New York 's five boroughs was $2,553, according to Marcus & Millichap, a real estate investment broker based in California . The average for the second most expensive city, San Francisco , was a comparative fire sale at $1,685.

New Yorkers and everyone else shouldn't expect much better in 2007. Marcus & Millichap forecasts a 6.5 percent rise in the asking price of rents during the year in the New York and a 4.3 percent rise nationally.

In the three years that will end December 31, 2007, the company forecasts that the average rent in the United States will have increased by 14 percent, far faster that the rate of inflation.