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NEW YORK – Jan. 8, 2010 – Reis Inc. reports that the nation’s apartment vacancy rate ended the year at 8 percent, the highest level since the New York-based research firm began tracking such statistics in the top 79 U.S. markets thirty years ago.

Rents dipped 3 percent in 2009, led by declines in San Jose, Seattle and other cities that witnessed brisk growth until the recession. In New York City, the apartment vacancy rate improved by 0.1 percentage point for the second consecutive quarter.

More and more apartment owners find that they must now go the extra mile to entice residents to renew leases.

“We’ll shampoo their carpets. We’ll paint accent walls. We’ll add Starbucks cards,” says Camden Property Trust CEO Richard Campo. Campo expects the first and second quarters of 2010 to be “pretty ugly,” but he expressed optimism that the sector would gain steam in the second half of the year.

During the October-December quarter, vacancies rose in 52 markets, improved in 17 and remained flat in 10. Owners and managers were hit especially hard in 2009 by competition from new supply.

Reis reports that the approximately 120,000 new rental units added last year represented the most new construction since 2003.

Source: The Wall Street Journal (01/07/10) P. A3; Timiraos, Nick

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