U.S. rental vacancies rise for the first time in nearly five years, according to a preliminary apartment sector trends report from Reis. The report says the apartment vacancy rate in the Twin Cities was 3.2 percent, virtually unchanged from the previous quarter despite the addition of hundreds of new apartments. Other highlights from the report:
- The national vacancy increased by 10 basis points to 4.2 percent, the first time since the fourth quarter of 2009 that the vacancy rate increased.
- Asking and effective rent growth was up from the second quarter, with both increasing by 1.0 percent.
- On a year-over-year basis asking and effective rents grew by 3.2 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, in line with the results from last quarter.
- New construction continues to rise, with 46,055 units hitting the market during the quarter. That was the second-highest quarterly amount since the fourth quarter of 2002. So far this year, 113,024 new units have come online compared with 85,438 units delivered through the first three quarters of 2013.
