Manhattan-based residential real estate brokerage Citi Habitats has released a free mobile application for the Apple iPhone. The application includes tool for rent vs. buy analysis.

The residential real estate brokerage is owned and operated by Realogy subsidiary NRT LLC. Citi Habitats has 12 offices and deals in for-sale homes, rentals, and new developments in New York City. Its website received more than one billion hits last year, the brokerage reveales.

Users looking for for-sale or for-rent homes near them or in a location they choose can search by neighborhood, price range, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, property type, and whether the property has an open house scheduled.

Consumers can also save searches and listings and receive notifications when homes matching their search criteria come on the market. They can also get directions to a property from their current location via Google Maps.

Listings pages allow users to flick through photos; view property descriptions and details such as square footage and agent contact information; and see a list of “things to do” nearby. There are also separate buttons on the app to see places for eating out, nightlife and shopping on a map.

From the listings page, users can email the listing to a friend or click to the full listing on the Citi Habitats website for further information.

For users who would like to analyze whether they should rent or buy, listing pages for rentals include a “you could buy” tab that allows users to see for-sale listings available for the same monthly payment. The app also includes a mortgage calculator.