Reis has reported that U.S. apartment vacancies have risen for the first time in five years, but rent growth has not subsided, nor will it subside during 2015, according to a 2015 multifamily forecast from Pierce-Eislen. It has prophesized that effective rent growth during 2015 will be 4.5 percent in class A and B+ apartment communities, while rising an even more vigorous 5.1 percent in class B and C apartment complexes.
The news is even better in markets such as Atlanta, Denver, Miami, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle, where rental rates are expected to swell by 7.5 percent to 9 percent. This comes on the heels of rental rate growth that is estimated to finish 2014 at 5.9 percent. Rental rates keep rising despite a national apartment vacancy rate that inched up to 4.2 percent during the third quarter in 79 large U.S. markets tracked by Reis. Despite the modest increase — the first in “a virtually unprecedented run” of five years — the apartm
