According to an industry report released on Wednesday, the
U.S. apartment vacancy rate fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, but
persistent stagnant income growth for U.S. workers has tempered the ability of
landlords to raise rents.
According to a preliminary report by real estate research
firm Reis Inc, the national apartment vacancy rate fell 0.2 percentage points
to 4.3 percent in the first quarter, the lowest since the fourth quarter 2001.
Rents, in contrast, grew by 0.5 percent, the least increase since the fourth
quarter of 2011.
The apartment sector has been the beneficiary of the U.S housing
bust, the economic recovery, high mortgage requirements, and a constrained
supply of new apartments over the past five years. Equity Residential (EQR.N),
Essex Property Trust Inc (ESS.N) and Avalon Bay Communities Inc (AVB.N) to push
up rents are the apartment owners that were pushed down the vacancy rate by
those factors.
