Report: Apartment Vacancy Drops Across Country

• April 7th 2011

by Mark Wellborn

An analysis released by Reis Inc. yesterday reported that rental vacancies across the country fell to the lowest level in more than two years, dropping from 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 6.2 percent in the first quarter of this year.

From the report:

First quarter data shows that the relentless pace of recovery in the apartment rental sector was not stymied by typical seasonal weakness, nor by an unusually snow‐heavy winter that might have prompted less households to move. National vacancies fell by 40 basis points as the sector posted positive net absorption of over 44,000 units. This is the largest increase in occupied stock in a first quarter period since 1999.

Reis provided UrbanTurf with DC-specific numbers, which showed that the vacancy rate in the city is at 5.3 percent. While low by national standards, the rate actually represents an increase from the numbers that Delta Associates reported at the beginning of the year.

The Delta report stated that DC-proper vacancy levels for Class A and B apartments were at 3.8 percent at the end of 2010, and that the market was even tighter in submarkets like Columbia Heights/Shaw where vacancy was at 2.8 percent. Reis’ analysis reports that the submarket with the lowest vacancy is currently Adams Morgan/Dupont Circle with a rate of 2.4 percent.

Grant Montgomery of Delta Associates told UrbanTurf that, given the seasonality of the rental market, an increase in vacancy in the first part of the year is not out of the ordinary.

“The increased vacancy is to be expected as the first quarter is one of the slowest periods of the year,” Montgomery said, adding that Delta’s reports compare current statistics from those one year prior to account for seasonality.

Look for a rundown from UrbanTurf of new apartment projects in the works for the region in the coming weeks.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/report_apartment_vacancy_drops_across_country/3287.