Dupre + Scott are out with their most recent report on Puget Sound apartment rent and vacancy trends and the numbers don't look great for renters (but then again you already knew that).
Overall, market vacancy rate is 3.8% in the Puget Sound region, which is up from March. That rate rises to 4.7% when you factor in vacancies in new construction projects. What does it all mean? Demand is still way ahead of supply and new arrivals can't come soon enough.
As for Puget Sound area rents, those are up 4.7% from six months ago and 8.2% from a year ago. D&S is quick to point out that the glut of new construction brings with it higher rents, inflating this percentage, but even if you exclude new units, you're still looking at a 6.3% rent gain YOY.
Here in Seattle, the biggest YOY rent changes are found "in-city," as one might expect, up roughly 10.5%. In South Seattle that number drops to around 8% and on the Eastside it comes down even further to around 7.5%. Check out the full report over here.
· Apartment rent and vacancy trends [D&S]